


In Only Seven Days

by BohemianBeth



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Be Careful What You Wish For, Bodyswap, Friendship, Magic, Multi, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 23:30:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BohemianBeth/pseuds/BohemianBeth
Summary: When a mysterious wishing well appears outside of the studio where Queen is recording and rehearsing, Jim and Deaky make selfless heartwarming wishes, Freddie's wish is exactly as you'd expect, and Brian and Roger have seven days to get themselves out of the mess they created.OrBrian and Roger swap bodies the day Queen leaves for their North American tour.Story inspired by Right 'Til the End by @reinne.





	1. Say the Word, Your Wish is my Command

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I know my other Queen fic, Rebels of Rhye, is not complete, but I've had this idea in my head for a while and couldn't wait to get started on it. So it looks like I'll be working on both stories simultaneously. That means updates may be slow, but I promise I'll try my best not to keep you waiting too long. Anyway, I know the timeline is going to be off in this story and things may not be too accurate, but it is pure fiction, so I hope you don't mind. For the sake of the plot, Brian and Roger don’t have any kids and Roger is single.As always, be respectful and know that I don't mean any harm and just want to have some fun writing this for fellow Queen fans. Don't send this story to Queen members or anyone associated to Queen or anyone else who might find this offensive. I own nothing. This story will be cross posted on my Wattpad account @beth_fanfiction. Also, when you get the chance you should go check out Right 'Til the End by @reinne which inspired me to write this story. It's really good! With those disclosures out of the way, on with the show!

Freddie was late...again. The boys waited for him impatiently in the studio. This was their final day to rehearse their set before they went on tour as they were leaving for North America tomorrow. While they did have their act perfected and the frontman had expressed his confidence in his bandmates, Brian still believed they needed the practice. There was also a slight last minute change to the setlist that Brian wanted to run by Freddie, but he didn't tell this to the others yet. He and John watched Roger pacing across the studio floor like a madman. "Where the bloody hell is he? He came three hours late the other day claiming he had a doctor's appointment. I wonder what his fucking excuse will be this time if he even bothers to show up."

Everyone looked up as the door opened. Unfortunately, it wasn't Freddie. It was only their sound technician popping in to say hello. Today was his day off since they were rehearsing and not recording. "Sorry to bother you boys. My daughter's been complaining that it's too loud for her to study. I hope you don't mind if I let her use one of the soundproof rooms in here?"

"You brought her to a recording studio in search of quiet?" Roger snickered, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Brian elbowed him and said, "She is more than welcome to use one of the soundproof rooms to study. It's no bother at all. Right, boys?"

"Right." John said as Roger rolled his eyes.

"Say, where's Freddie?" The technician wondered.

"Late as usual." Brian sighed.

"Well, while you wait for him, would you mind introducing yourselves to my daughter. She's a big fan."

"We wouldn't mind." Brian assured him.

"We love our fans." John insisted.

"Even the crazy ones." Roger remarked.

They followed the technician into one of the soundproof rooms where a teenage girl was staring down at a textbook. She looked up and gasped. "Oh my God!" she squealed, "Roger! Brian! John! I love you guys! Sorry. That sounds creepy."

"You're fine." Roger told her, "What are you working on?"

"Geometry." She scoffed in disgust, but her frown faded when she looked back at Roger with admiration. "My dad said that before you joined Queen, you wanted to be a dentist. I want to study dentistry after high school."

"Don't know where he heard that one!" Roger laughed, glancing back at the technician with a sheepish grin. "That is true though. I was going to be a boring old dentist. I wouldn't recommend it though."

"Roger! Don't put down the girl's dreams." Brian scolded.

"My dreams won't be able to happen if I can't pass this class." The girl said, "I don't understand any of this. Triangles make me sick."

"Here, maybe I can help." Roger offered, pulling up a chair so he could look at the textbook. He only needed to see the diagram of the triangle to know that he was utterly clueless, but the girl looked up to him and he didn't want to appear dumb, especially not in front of Brian and Deaky. who were much brighter than he was. "Do you get any of this, Roger?" The girl asked expectantly. Roger cleared his throat, thinking desperately."Um...yeah, so this triangle has three sides." He then realized that this was something that even a preschooler would be able to recognize. So much for not making himself look like a total fool. In his embarrassment, Roger hardly noticed that Brian was looking over their shoulders. "So what you want to do is figure out the angle of the hypotenuse." Brian spoke more eloquently, "Are you familiar with the formula? Roger, move over so I can show her."

"Sure. I'll get out of your way." Roger bitterly rose from his chair and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Brian didn't seem to notice as he helped the girl with her geometry homework. John followed Roger out to see what was bothering him although he had a vague idea why Roger was upset. "Don't take it too personally." John consoled, "I can do all kinds of advanced math, but geometry always sets me back."

"It's not about the fucking geometry, Deaky! It's Brian. It's not fair that he knows bloody everything. I mean he's a physicist, shouldn't he just be good at science? Why does he have to be brilliant at everything else as well?"

John shrugged. "I think it's good that we have such a smart friend we can rely on even if he does make us look not so bright by comparison sometimes."

"I guess it's not just Brian, it's also you. You're also good at math and shit. And I'm sure Freddie can solve any problem he puts his mind to. That just leaves me...I'm the dumb blonde who you just keep around for my good looks."

"We're rockstars, not mathematicians. Bri and I would have stayed in university if we wanted to pursue numbers, but we chose this life, and we wouldn't have been able to do that without our brilliant little drummer. You have so much to offer us, Roger. We wouldn't be Queen without you."

"Yeah, but I'm not like Brian. Things would be better if I were smart like him. Most of the trouble we get into is because of me. Brian doesn't get into trouble." Roger rambled, "I wish I could be more like him."

"Cheer up! Freddie's here." John pointed the window where they saw a car pulling up to the studio.

"Finally!" Roger exclaimed, "You go drag his ass in here and I'll get Brian. Then we can all give him another lecture on the importance of punctuality."

It was very unlikely that the message would get across considering they'd had the stern conversation with him nearly one hundred times and Freddie still never managed to show up on time. However, all of John's frustrations with the frontman seemed to disappear when Freddie dramatically stepped out of the car flailing his arms in the air. "Ayyy-Ohhh!" He belted with a ferocity that couldn't be matched. "Ayy-Ooh!" Deaky mimicked, but he couldn't reach Freddie's level of intensity. Freddie grinned and ran over to hug his friend. "Not bad, darling, not bad at all!" "You're in a good mood." John noted, completely forgetting about Freddie's lateness. Something about Freddie's energy made it impossible for him to focus on and nitpick his bad habits. When Freddie was around, everything was positive somehow.

"Oh, Deaky, you have absolutely no idea, my dear. Jim and I...we got some spectacular news this morning." Freddie blinked away tears as he continued to beam, "I swear this life is a bloody miracle sometimes." John had never seen him this thrilled when he wasn't on stage. He wasn't sure what to make of it. What could possibly have Freddie this happy?

"Oh my god! You're pregnant!"

The look on Freddie's face was both amused and horrified. "What the fuck? Deaky, I might be gay, but I'm still a man. I don't have a uterus or whatever the hell it's called."

"I'm joking, Freddie." John laughed, "I'm not  _that_ innocent. I know where babies come from."

"Well you should know where babies come from considering you and Ronnie have a whole litter of them running around."

John frowned. "Don't refer to my children as a litter."

"Then don't joke about me being pregnant, darling." Freddie teased. He put his arm around Deaky as they walked back to the studio. "Where are the other two? I want to have you all together when I announce my good news."

Back in the studio, Roger knocked on the door to get Brian's attention. He was way too absorbed in the stupid triangles. "And do you see how I was able to get that answer?" Brian asked. The girl nodded. "Yes I do. You're super helpful."

"Hey, Brian! Freddie's here. Let's get going! We're here for the music not the triangles." Roger called impatiently.

"I think I can get the next one on my own thanks to you." The girl said, "I don't know how you did it, but it all makes sense now."

"Glad I could help." Brian replied. Roger hated that satisfied smile of his...but deep down he also loved it. He wished he had the patience and sweetness to help people the way Brian did. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he wanted to be like Brian in more ways than just the brains.

"Something wrong, Roger?" Brian asked obliviously.

"You're great, Bri." And Roger meant it, "Nothing's wrong."

By the time, they left the room, Freddie and John were waiting for them. Freddie couldn't stop smiling, and it was quite contagious. Usually the singer tried to hide his teeth, but this time, he grinned with his mouth open wide and unapologetically. Roger easily forgot about his troubles and felt himself getting swelled up in Freddie's enthusiasm. "My darlings, I have wonderful news. Are you ready?"

"I'm dying to know already. Please tell us." John begged as Brian and Roger nodded.

"You remember my doctor's appointment from the other day?"

"The one that made you three hours late." Roger pointed out, "How could we forget?"

"The results came back this morning." Freddie continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "It's all negative."

As the others rejoiced, Roger's face sank. "Oh God, Freddie! I'm so sorry." They had all been tiptoeing around the fact that Freddie may have contacted the AIDs virus, but no one wanted to face the facts. However, as Roger saw his friends embracing Freddie and acting giddy, he was suddenly confused. 

"Negative is a good thing, dear. You studied biology you should know these things." Freddie laughed, "I'm healthy. It's a bloody miracle. I'm not going to die. At least not anytime soon. You guys are stuck with me!"

"And we wouldn't have it any other way." Brian exclaimed.

"We love you, Freddie." John cooed.

Of course Roger was so relieved that Freddie wasn't going to die. That would be an understatement. He loved Freddie just as much as Brian and Deaky did and couldn't imagine his life without him. Still, as he joined in on the celebration, in the back of his mind he couldn't escape how dumb he felt. Of course negative was a good thing in the medical world. Freddie was right, he should know these things.

"Now, let's get started." Freddie announced.

"Actually, Freddie," Brian interrupted, "There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Can we do it privately if that's alright?"

"Seriously?" Roger groaned.

"It's personal." Brian said, "I promise it won't take long."

"But Bri, you're my best friend." Why would Brian go to Freddie before Roger? They had known each other longer and shared all of their secrets.

"Darling, he wants me. Why don't you go outside for some fresh air?"

"I'm sorry, Rog. You'll understand later. I'll make it up to you. Okay?" Brian said.

"Okay." Roger sighed as John guided him back outside.

Deciding to have a smoke, Roger courteously walked a fair distance away from John and the studio. Only he stopped himself when he heard someone talking in the distance. It was an Irish accent. Jim! Roger walked toward the sound of his voice, and found Freddie's husband standing by a well. How strange. He had never noticed the well there before. What a strange place for a well. Who would put one adjacent to a recording studio?

"Anyway," Jim continued speaking, unaware that Roger was standing behind him, "I just want to say thank you. I won't waste my life with Freddie. I promise I'll never take him for granted. What you've given me...it's...You saved his life! It's priceless."

Roger looked around, trying to figure out who Jim was talking to, but no one was around. Curiously, he walked up to the well and noticed a peculiar marking on its side.  _'Below the Wishing Wizard dwells. He will bestow upon you one wish and one wish only, so think twice before utilizing his magic.'_

"Is this one of those wishing wells?" Roger wondered aloud. Startled, Jim jumped in response to Roger's voice. "Roger! I didn't see you there. Sorry."

"So who were you talking to, Jim? The Wishing Wizard?" He teased.

"Actually, yes." Jim replied, "Be careful. His wishes really do come true."

"Right." Roger said skeptically staring down into the well. "So what'd you wish for? Freddie's health?"

"I made an agreement with the Wishing Wizard that I wouldn't discuss it. I can't betray that trust. It's not worth it. I can't lose what I wished for." The way Jim spoke so dead seriously told Roger that he wasn't messing around.

"Holy shit! This thing is real. Freddie doesn't have AIDs because you made a wish. You saved him."

"Shh! Please. I really don't want my wish reversed." There were tears rolling down Jim's cheeks as he addressed the mysterious Wishing Wizard directly, "I'm sorry. I didn't tell him. He found out on his own. Please keep Freddie alive." Roger felt miserable for his mistake. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

"Have mercy, Mr. Wishing Wizard. It's not Jim's fault. I'm just an idiot. Freddie is so sweet and so talented. He deserves to live. He brings so much joy to everyone who knows him and even people who don't know him. So, please don't ruin this all because I fucked up again." Roger begged.

Suddenly, a gnomelike creature climbed out of the well. He was about the size of a rabbit and has ears resembling one, but his other features were distinctly human. He had a long flowing white beard and sparkling silver eyes. "Fear not, Mr. Hutton, you have not violated our agreement. Your wish is still intact. Mr. Mercury is still healthy. I only asked you not to tell anyone that you wished for his health. As you said, you did not tell Mr. Taylor. He found it out on his own, clever boy that he is."

"Me, clever? That's a good one!" Roger scoffed.

"Do not put yourself down like that, Mr. Taylor. You have many positive traits. Perhaps a wish will make you realize that."

"So, are you a real live wizard? Can you do magic and stuff?" Roger asked eagerly.

"I grant wishes, but I can only grant one wish per person. All I ask is that you tell no one about your wish. If you want to make a wish, you will need to ask Mr. Hutton to leave so he won't overhear."

"Think it through, Roger." Jim advised, "Thank you again, Mr. Wizard. You truly have no idea what you've done. I'll always be indebted to you."

"It was your wish." The wizard reminded him, "The magic wouldn't have worked if you didn't desire what you asked for."

"If that's true, then I really can't mess up, can I?" Roger reasoned, as Jim said his final goodbye and left them alone, "I'll get what I desire whatever I wish for or the magic won't work."

"Do not underestimate this, Mr. Taylor. Wishes have their consequences. You may get what you desire, but be unsatisfied with you what asked for."

If there was one thing Roger hated, it was convoluted riddles. Why did people (or this case magical creatures) have to be so cryptic? Just say what you mean and mean what you say! Brian could probably figure out exactly what the wizard was implying. Wait a minute. That was it! Roger knew what he was going to wish for. He wanted to be like Brian—smart, calm, and kind. His best friend was his role model and Roger imagined how much better life would be, not just for him but for the band, if he were resemble Brian more. They wouldn't have to deal with his anger fits anymore. Roger knew he was prone to starting most of the band fights even though he tried to work through his frustrations, he always ended up getting into a yelling match with either Freddie or Brian (and he really knew he had messed up if Deaky got involved). Roger thought about how Brian was always able to solve problems instead of cause them. With this wish, he'd be able to help the boys with their problems. Brian always tended to give great advice. What if Roger could also give advice like that? The band would be unstoppable with two Brians and one less Roger. "I want to be like Brian. That's my wish. I wish I was just like Brian."

"Are you sure?" The wizard confirmed.

"Positive. Use your magic. Make it happen!"

"Very well. Tell no one about this wish. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll feel just like Brian."

"Roger?" The wizard disappeared back into the well as John came running toward his friend. "There you are! I was scared. You were gone for a while. Did you finish your smoke?"

Roger put out his cigarette. "Yeah. I'm done. Let's go see if Brian and Freddie are ready for us yet."

"Yeah, you go on. I wanna check out this well. It looks cool. I've never seen it before. Strange place for a well, don't you think?"

"Just be careful what you wish for, Deaky." Roger warned as he left John alone, presumably to make a wish.

Roger couldn't help but feel excited as he walked back to the studio. Soon he'd be able to prove himself as more than just the "cute one" in the band. He'd be multifaceted, just like Brian.

Meanwhile, John read the inscription on the well's side and gasped. He was hesitant to make his wish after reading the warning, but after thinking it through he felt eager. "Hello, Wishing Wizard. My name is John Richard Deacon and I was born on August the 19th 1951. I would like to make a wish if it's not too much trouble."

The Wishing Wizard emerged again, making John gasp. "You may make a wish, Mr. Deacon. That is what I am here for. I only ask that you tell no one about your wish."

"I wish that my children will grow up to be as talented as their uncles—Freddie Roger and Brian." 

"If you and your wife do your part, that will come true." The Wishing Wizard replied with a wink, "Good day, Mr. Deacon." "Good day." John waved to the wizard as he sunk back into the well.

Completely unaware of the Wishing Wizard and his magic, Freddie and Brian were back in the studio. Freddie was still smiling from his good news as Brian took a seat across from him. "I really am happy for you, Freddie." Brian spoke, "I can say that on behalf of the band. We were really scared."

"So was I, darling." Freddie's smile faded for a moment, but then reappeared, "Thankfully we don't have to worry. I lucked out. Someone up there is watching out for me. So, what did you want to talk to me about, dear?"

"It seems so trivial now." Brian said, tugging at the hem of his shirt nervously, "You know what forget it. I've changed my mind. Call the other two back in here. We need to practice."

Freddie shook his head. "Practice can wait. We've been practicing nearly nonstop this past week, and I think we're ready."

"You can never have too much practice. As the saying goes practice makes p—"

"—Will you stop beating around the bush and tell me what's on your mind already!" Freddie scolded.

Brian sighed, wishing he could be more forthcoming like Roger. Why was it so hard for the guitarist to speak his mind at times? He admired how his best friend was fearless and unashamed when it came to expressing himself. "Freddie, do you ever wish you were more like somebody else?"

"Oh, all the time. That's why I have so many personas. I create my own identities, and whenever I feel like changing, I just slip into one of them. I suppose it's rather fitting to call me the Great Pretender. You know Freddie Mercury isn't my real name."

"That's not what I meant, Farrokh." Brian stressed the singer's birth name on purpose, "That's all you. Freddie, Farrokh, Mr. Fahrenheit, they're all the same person."

Freddie laughed at the mention of his many names. "Fun to have so many aliases, isn't it?" When he noticed Brian was still looking off thoughtfully, he realized that this was more beating around the bush. "Just talk to me, Bri. You can tell me anything, darling. We're friends. I know we're not as close as you and Roger, but I still like to think of us as family."

"I want to propose to Anita." Brian announced and Freddie gasped. "Oh darling, that's so exciting! Congratulations!"

Brian hold up his hand. "Don't congratulate me yet. I'm still thinking it through. Besides, I don't even know if she'll say yes."

"Of course she'll say yes. She loves you, and you two make such an adorable couple. I'm really having trouble understanding what the issue is."

"I don't want this to end like the way things did with Chrissie and I keep overthinking it, going over the pros and cons in my mind. Sometimes it would be easier to just do things without mulling over the consequences for months on end." Life would be so much easier for Brian if he could just let go and be confidently carefree like Roger. The drummer lived his life with absolutely no regrets.

"Months?" Freddie cried, pulling Brian out of his thoughts, "You've been torturing yourself with this for bloody months! Darling, why are you still here? You need to go home and fucking ask her! Do it before we leave for the tour."

"Now I don't want to act too impulsively. That's why I came to you instead of Roger. I have an idea planned out, but I can't do it without your help."

"I'm listening."

"For our setlist, we play You Take my Breath Away right before 39...can we change that order? I know it's last minute, but—"

"—It's done." Freddie said without hesitation, "I don't know how that will help you propose, but if it will, I'll make it happen. Do you want me to inform the others that we'll be playing 39 before You Take my Breath Away now?"

"Well, there's one more thing." Brian gulped, "I um, I want to sing 39 instead of you like I do on the album."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Really, Brian? You have to give me a good reason because you know I can't stand just lulling around on stage with nothing to sing. I need a purpose when I'm up there."

"I'm going to propose to her after the song and then you can sing You Take my Breath Away to us. Or at least that's the plan I've come up with. I doubt it will work because—"

"—Darling, that is brilliant! You really need to stop doubting yourself. It's romantic. Anita will love it. The audience will go fucking wild. They love onstage surprises like proposals. I'm not letting you chicken out of this. Oh, it will be so wonderful. I'll dedicate You Take my Breath Away to the two of you, and I'll get the audience involved as well. Brian, you big sweet poodle, this is going to be great I tell you!" Freddie rambled.

"Don't call me a poodle." Brian groaned.

"Well, that's what you are, dear—a lovable poodle. Now all you have to do is speak from your poodle heart when you get down on one knee and everything will be perfect."

"I don't know, Freddie." he sighed, "What if I don't know what to say or what if I put my heart out and she rejects me?"

"You can't think like that. Try to be more like Roger." Freddie made the suggestion out of the blue, unaware that Brian had been telling himself this for a while now, "I'll tell you, Roger will say anything on his mind and doesn't give a damn if he's rejected. It's like he has my stage persona offstage. I've never met anyone so unabashedly honest and open in my life. It really is quite a spectacle."

"Believe me I'd love to be more like Roger. I'm tired of being the nerd whose overthinking ruins everyone's day. It'd be nice to be the sexy confident one who makes people happy."

"I didn't say your overthinking ruins people's day, and I could hardly classify a rockstar as a nerd. Goodness, Bri, is that really how you see yourself? You should take a look in the mirror sometime because you are smart sexy poodle who is most certainly not a nerd. All you're missing is a little confidence."

"Thanks, Freddie." Brian said, "I think I needed to hear that, minus the poodle part of course."

"Anytime, my dear. Now let's go find the others so we can get on with the music! Isn't that what this is all about?"

"Yes. It's all about the music." Brian agreed.

So obviously that meant that he should put the band above all else, which he did. Only Brian realized that a lot of their creative roadblocks would come from his tendency overthink things and magnify minor issues that shouldn't even be a problem. If anything Roger was the one who inspired him to put out hit songs that he otherwise would have been trashed. While Roger's songs were very basic and simple, like the infamous I'm in Love with My Car, he put himself into it without giving it a second thought. He'd voice his opinion when discussing the others' songs even if he overstepped his boundaries, and in the end, they'd make the changes needed. The band would benefit more if Brian worked in the same unrestrained manner that Roger did. Here he was stuck in his head again! He focused on helping Freddie find the others.

"Deaky? Roger? Where'd you two go?" Freddie hollered as they went out in search of their friends.

"They couldn't have gone far." Brian reasoned, "How about you go this way, and I go that way?"

Freddie nodded and went off in the direction of the wishing well. He knew he was supposed to be looking for his friends, but instead he found himself entranced by the mysterious well that he could have sworn was never there before. The well held some kind of magical aura that Freddie couldn't identify. After reading the Wishing Wizard's inscription, he understood. This was a magic wishing well! He giggled to himself at the idea. "What shall I wish for?" he asked himself. Now that he was healthy, he already had everything he could ever ask for and more. As a rockstar he got fame and fortune and everything that goes with it. With Jim, he had finally found somebody to love, and even though they couldn't legally get married, Freddie still had a happy life with his husband. The only thing they were missing were children, which Freddie certainly was not ready for. He couldn't imagine himself raising a family just yet, but the thought lead to an even better idea. "I wish that Delilah would get pregnant and give birth to big litter of adorable baby kittens so Jim and I can be grandparents." Freddie decided.

When the Wishing Wizard rose up from the well, Freddie screamed, but not out of fear. He was squealing with delight. "Oh! You are the cutest little magic rabbit humanoid thing I have ever seen!"

"I'm a Wishing Wizard. Are you sure you want to wish for more cats, Mr. Mercury?"

"Of course I'm sure. I love my cats. The more the merrier. Delilah will make a great mother. In all honesty, she'll make a better mother than I ever would."

"Very well. All I ask is that you tell no one about your wish. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll find that Delilah has given birth."

"That quickly? Wow! Your magic works very quickly. I'm impressed." Freddie began to grow very excited about his new kittens. Hopefully they'd be cute and cuddly!

"Now that you've made your wish, you cannot take it back, so I'm allowed to tell you my opinion. I believe you've wasted your one wish." The Wishing Wizard said bluntly.

Did Freddie hear that right? He didn't want to anger the magical creature, but he had to argue. "Agree to disagree, my dear. The world needs more cats. You can never go wrong with cats."

"Do you want me to tell you what Mr. Hutton wished for? I'm allowed to. It won't undo any of the magic."

"Jim made a wish?" he gasped, "Why didn't he tell me?"

"Because I didn't allow him to, but I think you should know. I have transcript right here." The Wishing Wizard reached down into the well and pulled out a scroll of paper from which he read aloud, "I want to believe that this will work because I have no other hope left. Freddie will be getting his results back soon. I forced him to get tested before leaving for the tour because I know we're going to have to face the diagnosis eventually, but my one wish is for it not be true. If Freddie has to be taken away from me, it shouldn't be from this horrid disease. I wish that he'll stay healthy and pass peacefully in his sleep of natural old age."

Freddie was actually sobbing as he heard the words. Jim had saved his life, and Freddie was too overwhelmed to fathom it all. The Wishing Wizard was right. He had wasted his wish. Why didn't he ask for same sex marriage to be legalized in his and Jim's lifetime or a cure for AIDs so everyone else could be spared? All he knew was that he loved Jim wholeheartedly, and he was going to spend the rest of his now long life showering Jim with all the love and affection he could muster.

"Freddie!" Brian called, "Freddie, I found them. We're ready to rehearse! Oh. There you are. We're—Shit! What happened? Are you okay?" Brian saw Freddie on the ground bawling and assumed the worst.

"N-nothing's wrong, darling." Freddie sniffled, "Everything is absolutely perfect. Tell the others that practice is cancelled. I'm going to spend the rest of the day serenading Jim and declaring my love for him."

In one swift motion, Freddie rose to his feet and pulled Brian into a hug. Brian was confused and concerned, but he returned the embrace nonetheless.

As Freddie ran off, presumably to find Jim, Brian noticed the well. It must've been new. Otherwise it would have caught his attention before. Being a man of science, Brian was of course very critical when he read the marking on the side of the well. Magic wasn't real. Still, he played along because he knew what he would wish for if magic were to come true somehow. He wanted to be like Roger—fearless, passionate and fun. "I wish I could be more like Roger." Brian spoke loud and clear.

The Wishing Wizard popped up out of the well, and Brian was taken aback. "W-what are you?" He cried.

"I'm a Wishing Wizard. I'm going to grant your wish. Are you sure this is what you want?"

Brian gave it another thought. With Roger's confidence, he could surely woo Anita off her feet. He wouldn't feel the need to keep running himself into the ground to perfect his guitar solos, and he'd be less tired and play even better as a result. Both Brian and the band would benefit ."Yes. I'm sure."

"Very well. Tell no one about this wish. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll feel just like Roger."


	2. Play the Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Roger confront the Wishing Wizard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have over 400 hits already and that is amazing! Thank you guys so much. 
> 
> And now the fun begins...

The first thing Brian did when he woke up was scream, and even that felt unnatural. It was way too high pitched to be coming from his vocal chords. The sound reminded him of the other day when Roger had spotted a spider and wouldn’t stop shrieking in his “Galileo!” falsetto for someone to do something about it. He had even resorted to jumping up on Freddie’s piano bench and refused to come back down until Brian had jarred the spider and took it outside far away from the petrified drummer. He, Freddie and Deaky had mercilessly mocked Roger afterwards, but Brian was hardly laughing now. Something was terribly wrong, and it wasn’t just the scream. For one thing, his vision was blurry and fuzzy. He could still see and make out the world around him, but it was certainly distracting and was giving him a headache. Although the headache felt more hangover related than anything else as if he had gotten drunk last night. Brian reflected back to what he last remembered. He had been on the couch watching a documentary on supernovas which had put Anita to sleep. When the show was over, he had carried Anita to bed and that was it. Then why the hell was he now waking up with a splitting migraine and alcohol on his breath in Roger Taylor’s bedroom? More importantly why was he in Roger’s bed with a woman who wasn’t his girlfriend soon to be fiancé? Brian would never cheat on Anita! There had to be some other explanation for how he had ended up here.

This strange woman open her eyes and giggled when she saw Brian. “Morning.” She yawned placing a kiss on his cheek, “Thanks for the best one night stand ever!” One night stand? Brian couldn’t recall the last time he had a one night stand. He wasn’t sure if he ever even had one. Chrissie came to mind, but he had ended up falling in love and marrying her so that certainly did not count as a one night stand. This woman had to be mistaken. Besides, if they had slept together, wouldn’t Brian remember it?

She casually got up out of the bed, completely naked, mind you, staring back at Brian with a half smile. What was going on? The woman began to put on her clothes which were tossed on the floor alongside what looked like Roger’s discarded skinny jeans and bright red shirt. “I doubt any of my friends will believe me when I tell them that I hooked up with the drummer from Queen.” She remarked mindlessly, “They’ll be so jealous.”

Drunken hookups aside, she should at least do her research and know who exactly she slept with. “I’m not—“ Brian cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the rasp, “I’m not the drummer.” Nope, his voice was still off. It had a distinct highness combined with a raspiness. If he didn’t know any better he’d say his voice now matched Roger’s verbatim, but how could he suddenly get new vocals identical to his best friend’s overnight. That was just preposterous.

“Oh really?” The woman teased, “If you aren’t the drummer, then who are you?”

“The guitarist.” Brian said unconvincingly in Roger’s voice. She laughed as she buttoned her blouse thinking Brian’s remark was a bad joke. “You take care, Roger. Have fun on tour! Call me if you ever want to do this again.”

Just like that, the woman left, and Brian was stuck trying to figure out what was going on. He had to be dreaming. All this was just too bizarre to be real. Brian stumbled when he got out of bed finding that his balance was off slightly. His proportions were all wrong. For one thing, his legs weren’t as long as they used to be. Roger’s clothing on the floor fit him perfectly. “No.” Brian said to himself, trying not to panic, “This can’t be.”

The wish! This was exactly what he had asked the Wishing Wizard, but when he requested to be more like Roger, he hadn’t expected to be taken this literally. What was he going to do? They were leaving for their tour later this afternoon. There was no way Queen could perform with two Rogers and no Brians. Speaking of which, where was the real Roger? This was his flat after all. Shouldn’t he be here? Brian shook his head, which felt oddly light without his iconic curls dangling down the sides of his face. He would worry about the real Roger’s whereabouts later. Now he needed to figure out how much damage the wish had truly caused. With a deep breath, he took a step toward the mirror. Only because of his now poor eyesight and readjustment to shorter legs, he stumbled into the dresser in the process. A drawer was knocked open. Inside was the normal junk he’d expect to find—rubber bands, loose cigarettes, a stick of chewing gum, etc. Surprisingly, toward the back of the drawer was something of use. Brian had to wipe the pair of glasses and blow off the dust, but they certainly did the trick. Once he had them on, his vision reverted back to normal. If this was really the way Roger saw the world, Brian was shocked that he so stubbornly refused to wear his glasses or contacts (which he claimed irritated his eyes).  _“But Bri, I’ll look like such a nerd if I wear them. Rockstars don’t wear glasses. Besides, my eyesight isn’t that bad. I’m used to it.”_ He remembered Roger telling him once. “You’re used to it, Rog, but I’m not.” Brian muttered.

He was almost afraid to look in the mirror, but he knew he had to face…whatever kind of magic this was. The site of wild blonde locks and wide blue eyes staring back at him made him scream again. Yes, he had reached the conclusion that he had somehow become a clone of Roger, but witnessing it directly like this was something Brian wasn’t prepared for. He couldn’t wrap his head around this madness. People don’t just wake up looking identical to their best friend. Even if this was the work of a magical wizard, Brian still wanted a more reasonable explanation. He needed to understand how this was possible so he could find a way to reverse it. Being the scientist that he was, Brian connected this surreal phenomena to a very basic principle of physics. According to Newton’s third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. From this, he deduced that the real Roger was currently residing in Brian’s own body. That explained why Roger wasn’t here. Brian had taken his place and vice versa. If his hypothesis was correct, then he and Roger were in big trouble to say the least.

“What a stupid wish!” Brian scolded himself, “Now Roger has to suffer in my body because of me.”

Poor Roger was probably freaking out right now. Obviously they would have to sort this mess out together. So that meant that Brian was going to have to figure out where Roger kept his car keys and drive to his own flat to find the imposter in his body. Then the two of them would confront the Wishing Wizard and ask for their bodies back. Perhaps the Wishing Wizard would take Roger’s request into account considering that it was Brian’s wish and not his that created this conundrum. Roger shouldn’t be punished because of Brian’s dumb mistake of a poorly worded wish. Brian was too panicked to come up with an alternative plan, so this one would have to suffice for now.

***

Roger knew something was wrong from the moment he opened his eyes. For one thing, the ceiling above him was so crystal clear that he could clearly make out every minute detail in the tiling. With this new super crisp vision, he was easily able to see that he was in Brian’s flat for some reason. Huh. The last thing Roger remembered was going home with a pretty girl from the bar. What was her name again? Lisa? Ella? Tara? Whatever. The point was he got lucky.

A pure terror rose in Roger’s chest when he noticed the woman sleeping beside him. Oh shit! No! No! Brian was going to murder him. He was in bed with Anita! How the hell could this happen? Roger had gotten drunk as usual, but he doubted he was inebriated enough to mistake a perfect stranger with his best friend’s girlfriend. Besides, wouldn’t Anita be against the idea of betraying Brian by hooking up with Roger? This couldn’t be right. Neither of them would do this to Brian or each other. What else could have happened though? When Roger Taylor woke up in bed next to a woman, it could only mean one thing. Roger could remember the girl from the bar and their impassioned night together so vividly despite being drunk. He was positive that it hadn’t been Anita. They weren’t the same person. There was just no way.

As he reflected back on his night at the bar, a new issue suddenly hit Roger. Why didn’t he have a hangover? He felt perfectly fine, not even a slight drowsiness or headache. That was impossible! Yes, he had a high alcohol tolerance, but he abused it too much, and last night had been no exception.

What the hell was going on? Why did Roger feel so strange? He just couldn’t put his finger on it. It was as if his body wasn’t his own, but that couldn’t be right. That didn’t make any sense. Of course he was still in his own body. But then why were his legs so long that they barely fit in the bed? In a panic and in an attempt to get used to this newfound height, he accidentally kicked Anita and woke her up. “Sorry.” Roger’s voice did not sound right. It was far too smooth to be his. It almost sounded like Brian’s. Wait a minute. He was waking up in Brian’s flat, next to Brian’s girlfriend, and he had made a wish asking to be more like Brian. Fuck! Stupid Wishing Wizard! Why didn’t he warn Roger that his wish would be taken literally? He didn’t want to physically become his best friend, he just wanted to embody him. Roger began to hyperventilate as he thought through he implications of this wish. He was Brian. Oh God!

“Bri, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Anita said softly, “Did you have a nightmare?”

“I-I think I’m still in one.” He stammered.

Before Anita could reply, they heard a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.” Anita said without a thought. As she got up, Roger dashed over the mirror in a frenzy, nearly falling over in the process. He wasn’t used to maneuvering Brian’s body. “Holy shit!” Roger cried in disbelief as none other than Brian May’s reflection greeted him. He put a hand to his curls to confirm that this was in fact real. “But if I’m here, then where’s the real Brian?” Roger wondered.

Little did he know that the real Brian was the one outside knocking. Brian knew he had given Roger a spare key to his flat, but he just didn’t know where the drummer kept it. So here he was foolishly knocking on the door of his own flat. When Anita opened the door, he expected her to recognize him, but that was asking too much of her.

“Roger, what are you doing here?” Brian was caught off guard being addressed as Roger, but he knew he was going to have to get used to it until he got his body back. Anita cocked her head to the side in consideration. “Something’s different about you.”

“Yes!” Brian practically shouted, “Anita, it’s me, B—“

“—Oh! You’re wearing glasses.” she exclaimed, “That must be it. Anyway, please come in. I was just about to prepare us some breakfast. Bri’s in the bedroom. I know I’m a delight, but you probably came here to see him.”

Who was he kidding? Even if he told Anita what was happening, she would have to be crazy to believe him. Brian could barely believe it himself even though it was happening to him. The best option was to keep this between him and Roger until it was solved. The last thing he wanted was to be admitted to a psych ward. He could already imagine the press getting ahold of the story. ‘ _Queen Guitarist and Drummer are Going Slightly Mad.’_ What a scandal it would make!

Back in the bedroom, Roger was on the verge of tears. What was he going to do? They couldn’t go on tour like this. Sure, he was decent at guitar, but Brian was a rock god. How could he ever replicate that? Roger willed himself to believe that this was nothing more than a trippy hallucination even though he didn’t remember doing any drugs recently. Maybe someone had slipped something into his drink at the bar.

“Brian, Roger’s here!” Anita called, but Roger’s mind was a blur so he could barely make out her words. She mentioned something about making breakfast, but Roger couldn’t care less. All he saw was his reflection with brown eyes instead of blue. “This can’t be real.” Roger heaved, his lip trembling.

He turned away from the mirror when he heard someone coming into the room. It wasn’t Anita. “What fuck?” Roger cried, staring down at what essentially was a spitting image of himself in the flesh. It was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something. Whoever this imposter was, Roger didn’t appreciate him flaunting around with his glasses on. They made him look so dorky, even more so that he could see them on him as an outsider. “W-who the hell are you and why have you stolen my body?” Roger shrieked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Brian responded as calmly as he could despite the circumstances.

“Brian?” Roger gasped. Oh he should’ve seen this one coming! Brian was the one in his body. This definitely was not part of the bargain. He was going to charge back to the Wishing Wizard and demand a refund.

“T-this is unnerving.” Brian said staring up at his own face.

“Unnerving? More like fucking terrifying! How the hell could this happen to us, Bri? What are we going to do?”

“Listen, I’m going to sort this out. You see I made a wish in a magical wishing well, and it backfired. If we go back to the well together and explain that this was my fault and you shouldn’t be punished, the Wishing Wizard may be able to fix this.” Brian reasoned.

Expecting Roger to lash out and scream at him for causing all this drama, Brian braced himself for one of the drummer’s notorious rages. Only it never came. “You too, huh?” Roger asked softly, “Oh, Bri, why would you ever wish to be me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I wished to be more like you!” Roger cried.

“That’s stupid, Rog. Why would you want that?”

“Oh come on, I asked you first.” Roger’s immature side came out.

Brian sighed. “It doesn’t matter why we made these wishes. The damage is clearly done. All we can do now is go back to the Wishing Wizard and hope he has mercy.”

“What are we going to do if he doesn’t change us back?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.” Brian admitted.

“But you always have a plan and think five steps ahead of everyone. It’s why you’re so good at scrabble and chess and literally everything else.”

“I’m not perfect, Roger. Right now I only have one plan, so it better work.”

“I guess if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to drown the Wishing Wizard in his own well.” Roger decided.

“We’ll call that Plan B.” Brian agreed.

“Breakfast is ready!” Anita called from downstairs.

“Oh! I forgot about Anita.” Roger realized, “What should we tell her?”

Brian didn’t want to have to lie to her, but he saw no other choice. “We’ll tell her we have some last minute things to do for the tour and we need to go to the studio. If she presses for details, which knowing her she probably will, we’ll blame it on Freddie. We’ll say he wants us at the studio ASAP.”

Seeing Anita set down three bowls of porridge, Brian couldn’t help but feel guilty. Granted, it was the microwaveable kind so Anita didn’t have to toil too much, but still she went through the trouble for nothing. “Roger, I made you a bowl as well. I insist that you eat with us.”

“Actually we’re going to skip breakfast.” Brian said, “We need to go to the studio.”

Anita frowned. “I thought you finished everything you needed to do yesterday.”

“Freddie said he wanted us for some last minute things.” Roger jumped in, “You know there’s no saying no to Freddie. If he says show up at the studio, then we’d better show the fuck up.”

Brian elbowed Roger. Unlike Deaky, he cursed, but not so casually and frequently like that of Freddie and Roger. Anita would get suspicious if Roger continued to drop f bombs without caring. Thankfully, she seemed to have bought the lie. “Alright. If Freddie thinks it’s important, then it probably is. At least take a granola bar or something so you don’t go hungry.”

“That’s alright.” Brian said as Roger blurted, “What flavors do you have?”

“We just have chocolate chip. You know that, love.” Anita said her eyes narrowing in suspicion, “If you wanted different flavors, why didn’t you tell me to add it the grocery list?”

“Oh right. Sorry. I forgot.” Roger stammered. Brian knew he had to drag Roger out of here before he blew their cover, but he couldn’t be rude to Anita.

“I think you’re forgetting something else, aren’t you, Bri?” Anita said. Brian detected the playfulness in her tone, but Roger didn’t. “What am I forgetting?” He asked in a frenzy looking toward Brian for help. “A goodbye kiss, silly.” Anita laughed.

“Oh.” Again Roger looked to Brian for some sort of guidance. For Brian, this was a whole new experience. Seeing his own face appear in a helpless panic like a deer caught in headlights was so strange to him.

“Go on, Brian.” He said trying to sound like Roger, “It’s just a kiss. It’s not like you’re fucking her right in front of me.” Oh wait, that was something Freddie would say (minus the darling) not Roger. He’d have to work on his guise a bit more. Hopefully they’d be back to normal soon. Roger gave Brian an apologetic glance as he leaned down to gently peck Anita’s lips.

“We should get going.” Roger said abruptly pulling away.

“Alright.” Anita said, eyeing him for a minute as if she knew that he wasn’t himself, “Have fun, boys.”

“That could’ve gone better.” Brian said under his breath as they made their way out the door.

“I did the best I could.” Roger replied with a shrug, “Now let’s go tell the Wishing Wizard that he’d better change us back or else.”

Roger stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted his car parked in front of Brian’s flat. “You drove Jenna without my permission?” “Jenna?” Brian snickered, “Why am I not surprised that your car has a name?”

“Just shut up and give me my keys back!” Roger demanded. Not appreciating Roger’s sharp tone (one not often used in the guitarist’s polite voice), Brian wished for his height back so he could tease the drummer by dangling the keys over his head. Instead he just tossed them to him in a somewhat violent manner nearly hitting Roger in the face. “Next time say please.”

“Fuck you, Brian!” Roger shouted, cursing to himself as he attempted to adjust the car settings to fit his now taller frame, “You know I’m really starting to regret wishing I was you.”

“Oh. I’m surprised it took you this long. I’ve regretted my wish from the moment I woke up.” Brian didn’t mean for the comeback to sound so bitter, but it was true. He didn’t want this. The wish had been a mistake.

The ride to the studio was quiet. Roger focused on how crystal clear the road looked. He never thought he could enjoy driving anymore than he already did, but now that he could see everything without the darkened tint of his prescription sunglasses (those did not make him look nerdy so he wore them whenever he could), it created a whole new beauty to the streets that he zoomed through. By focusing on the road, Roger was able to distract himself from the situation at hand. Still, his mind kept creeping back to how badly he had messed up again. Knowing that Brian made the same mistake as him in regard to wish made him feel a bit better. However, he was curious.

“Bri?”

“Hmm?” Brian seemed lost in his own mind like Roger.

“You never did tell me. Why did you wish for this?” The thought baffled Roger. Why would someone as intelligent and talented as Brian go and throw it all away with a wish to become the band’s token dumb blonde? He was a good drummer and could charm girls with his smile and sparkling blue eyes, but Roger saw no other benefits. His positive traits were nothing more than a slimming shadow when compared to Brian’s brilliance.

Brian didn’t need to think much when he gave his answer which was odd considering he usually thought too much about everything. “I wanted your confidence and charisma. You could say and do the most ridiculous things and somehow everyone loves you for it. When I watch you joke around and make even the smallest things into something fun, I realize how boring I am. At the end of the day, I can read about space all I want and nothing will happen. If I had your spirit of adventure, on the other hand, I might be brave enough to actually venture into space and experience it for myself.”

Roger silently took in Brian’s words. He had no idea the guitarist envied him in that way. Naturally of course, Brian returned the question. “With all that you have, why would you want to give it up and be like me?”

“I guess I just wanted to be smart for once in my life. God, even that sounds dumb.”

“But you  _are_ smart, Rog. You were smart enough to convince me not to give up on the band when Tim quit. It was like you had hindsight and you knew that Freddie would be joining us in a matter of days and John in a matter of weeks. What if I hadn’t listened to you and decided that being a professional musician wasn’t for me? Then where would we be?” Brian reminded him.

“It wasn’t hindsight, it was faith. I knew we couldn’t fail and we’d find someone even better than Tim.” Roger recalled with a smile, “Little did we know that we would find not one but two people better than him who wouldn’t abandon us.”

“You can be very persistent. I hate your stubborn side sometimes, but it can be quite useful. When you get an idea, there’s just no talking you out of it even if you have to lock yourself in a cupboard to get your way. I wish I could have that much confidence in my decision making skills.” Brian found himself rambling. It was easy to see why he had made this wish even if it had been a mistake.

However, Roger was still surprised to hear all of these wonderful things coming from Brian. “I think you need to give yourself more credit, Bri. Your ideas and decisions are almost always right. I don’t know how you do it, but somehow you manage to solve all of our problems. That’s why I come to you for advice because I know you’ll know what to do. Freddie and Deaky will agree with me on that. You’re the one we can count on to keep us out of trouble.”

“And somehow I’ve gotten us into the serious trouble we’ve ever been in.” Brian laughed.

“I’m partially to blame as well.” Roger conceded.

Finally, Roger pulled into the studio parking lot. It was time to put this mess behind them and forget it ever happened with the exception of course of their kind words of admiration for one another. The duo anxiously approached the wishing well waiting for the Wishing Wizard to reveal himself. Unfortunately, there was no sign of him.

“Maybe he can only be summoned with a wish.” Brian reasoned, but Roger had no patience for his logic. He lowered his head into the well, accidentally wetting his curls and hollered, “Hey! Wake up, you dumb lying wizard son of a bitch! I want my body back and I want it now!” Seconds later, Roger realized that using this crude tone was no the best idea. If he angered the wizard, it would jeopardize their chances of undoing the wish.

The wizard popped his head back up over the side of the well. “Hello Mr. May.” He said looking directly at Roger. Then he looked directly at Brian. “Hello Mr. Taylor.”

Roger rolled his eyes aware that he didn’t want to piss off the wizard, but unable to contain his distaste for his patronizing greeting. “Don’t pull that stunt. You know I’m not Brian and he’s not Roger. You did this to us.”

“Are you enjoying your wishes? How is the grass? Is it any greener on the other side?” The wizard replied smugly.

“With all due respect, Mr. Wizard,” Brian began diplomatically, “I don’t believe we were properly informed of what we were getting ourselves into when we made these wishes.”

“You read the warning. I asked if you were sure if this was what you wanted and you both said yes. I gave you what you asked for. If you are unsatisfied, there is nothing I can do about it.”

Roger officially lost his temper. “Alright, listen up, you little shit! I’ll give you ten seconds to change us back before I hold you up by the ears kicking and screaming and bash your head against the side of your well until you bleed.”

Unfazed by the threat, the wizard clicked his tongue. “Mr. May, that doesn’t sound like you at all. It goes against your pacifist nature. You literally would not even hurt a fly.”

It was true. Brian was so kind and caring toward nature and all living creatures (especially badgers) that he was against the idea of fly swatters. However, Roger was not Brian. Regardless of what body he was in and no matter how many times the wizard referred to him as Mr. May he’d stay Roger Taylor at heart.

“One.” Roger began counting to ten. The wizard didn’t flinch. “Two.”

“I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with this plan.” Brian blurted, “Please, Mr. Wizard, you’ve got to undo this wish. It’s not just for our sake, but for the sake of our band and our fans. We’re leaving for our tour in a few hours. Obviously, Roger and I can’t perform like this, and the last thing we want to do is cancel. Think how many people we’d be disappointing.”

“Why can you not perform?” The wizard asked cluelessly.

“Because we’re not ourselves, you idiot!” Roger screamed.

“Muscle memory can only get us so far.” Brian phrased it more politely.

“I will make you an offer.” The wizard proposed, “Work with the magic. Act like each other and learn what it is like to live this life from a new perspective. If you have gained the insight I am hoping for within seven days, then I will change you back. If not, I am afraid you will have to stay this way forever. Who knows maybe you will end up liking these new changes and not wanting to change back. This is after all what you said you wanted.”

“Seven bloody days?” Roger cried, “Did you not hear Brian tell you we leave in a few hours? We need to be changed back now!”

“Do you accept my offer or not?”

“We accept.” Brian said without consulting Roger.

“Good luck.” The wizard said, ominously lowering his head back into the well. Before he disappeared completely, he issued the boys one last warning. “You must really stay true to the lives you wished for. If you tell anyone else that you are not who your body reflects, I will revoke the deal and you will stay this way forever.”

“Seven days.” Roger repeated, blinking back tears, “What the hell are we going to do, Brian?”

“I guess we have no choice. We know the rules, so we have to play the game. If we can get through these next seven days pretending to be each other without anyone finding out, we’ll survive.” Brian said.

“But what about the tour?”

“We only have two concerts set for the next seven days. That’s it. I think if we help each other, we can get through them.” Brian was trying to convince himself more than Roger because the situation did appear rather hopeless. Guitar was his niche. He didn’t know the first thing about drumming nor did he have much experience singing in falsetto. Meanwhile Roger was coming up with a different plan altogether. “Let’s convince Freddie and John to cancel just the first two concerts, not the tour entirely. We can give our fans a full refund and offer them tickets and backstage passes to our next concert. If we come up with a good enough excuse, it could work.”

“We need a really bloody good excuse then.” Brian decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof! Something tells me Freddie and Deaky won't buy Brian and Roger's excuse. We'll find out soon enough!


	3. The Show Must Go On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie's wish comes true, and he refuses to put up with Brian and Roger's excuse to cancel the shows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story has almost 700 hits! Please continue to leave kudos and comments because I really appreciate it! I'm having a lot of fun with this fic! It's not as heavy as Rebels of Rhye, but it still allows for a nice balance between silliness and angst. Let me know what you guys think!

"This has got to be the worst bloody excuse in the world!" Brian exclaimed.

"I think it's fitting." Roger disagreed as he put the final bandaid on his last remaining finger, "I mean you're the most well read person I know. It makes sense that you'd get ten paper cuts. Do the bandaids look convincing enough?"

"How do you expect Freddie and Deaky to believe that you conveniently got a paper cut on all ten of your fingers?"

"From reading! Weren't you listening, Brian? God, at least I'm trying to come up with a plan. What's your idea?"

"I told you. We should try to play at the concert as best we can. The wizard said we had to embrace each other's lives if we want to get back to normal. Neither of us would ever cancel a concert, let alone two, for whatever reason. Even if I were to somehow get ten paper cuts, I'd still find a way to play guitar. I'm sure if something happened to your hands, you'd improvise a way to still play drums as well."

"If we play in the concert like this, we'll embarrass ourselves and sully Queen's reputation. Freddie and Deaky will never forgive us, and our fans will hate us. So, we're going with my plan, and if it doesn't work, we'll run away or something."

"Running away doesn't solve problems, Rog, it only creates new ones." Brian called after him, but it was no use. Roger had already made up his mind, and there was no talking him out of it. He sat impatiently in the driver's seat of his car, waiting for Brian to join him.

Of course, Brain knew Roger had a point. What made Queen so special was that it was made up of four perfectionists. If anyone of them were unable to put on a top notch performance, it led to fights and self esteem issues. Brian sighed and got into the passenger's seat, nearly forgetting that he no longer had to lower his head to get in. "So, who are we going to tell first Fred or John?"

"Garden Lodge is on the way to the Deacons' flat, so we'll tell Freddie first." Roger announced, turning on the engine. "I was afraid you'd say that." Brian said. The theatrical frontman would probably be much harder to face than the understanding bassist. Hopefully, Freddie wouldn't become too hysterical at the prospect of cancelling two shows.

Meanwhile, in the aforementioned Garden Lodge, Freddie was waking up. Unfortunately, he was still shuddering from a rather ghastly nightmare he had suffered from that night. Noticing Jim snoring by his side made him realize that none of it was real. He was alive and healthy all thanks to the magic of the glorious Wishing Wizard. Freddie was going to spend the rest of his life indebted both to the wizard and his lover who had made such a selfless wish. With this new outlook on his second chance at life, Freddie knew that he had to make the most out of every opportunity. So he was even more excited about this upcoming tour than normal, and that was saying a lot considering how much Freddie usually reveled in the thrill of his concerts. "This is going to be the greatest tour we've ever gone on!" Freddie said softly to himself so he wouldn't wake Jim, "And I won't allow anyone or anything to sabotage it."

Then something struck Freddie deep within his heart that nearly made him stop breathing. It was difficult to explain, but he shared a deep connection with his cats, especially Delilah, and he could somehow always sense when any of them were in pain. "Delilah's hurt!" Freddie cried, rising out of the bed wearing only his boxers. In a frenzy, he dashed down the hall to Delilah's room (yes, of course she had her own room, silly; all of Freddie's cats had their own rooms). Freddie was a strange mix of both terrified and delighted when he saw Delilah with a tummy that seemed to have ballooned overnight, lying on her side, mewling in pain as she went into labor. Tiffany and Romeo were sprawled next to her, licking her fur in encouragement. Before Freddie could react, Oscar crept past his legs. He took one look at the first kitten to come out of Delilah, coughed up a hairball, and crawled back to his room. "Oscar!" Freddie scolded, "That's no way to welcome your new nieces and nephews into this world!" His eyes filled with tears as he watch Delilah give birth to several more kittens. "Oh, darling, you're doing so well! Believe me, the pain will be worth it." Freddie cooed softly to the mother as he embraced his new grandchildren. There were five new kittens in total, and Freddie simply couldn't believe that his wish had come true! Yes, he regretted not wishing for something more impactful, but he couldn't deny himself the joy he felt when he saw the adorable tiny kittens. Delilah letting out a gentle purr before softly closing her eyes to rest was all Freddie needed to witness to be perfectly content. He couldn't imagine anything better than what he was witnessing.

"Freddie?" He heard Jim call from their room. "I'm in Delilah's room, dear!" Hopefully, Jim would be just as excited as Freddie. "Jim, look kittens!" Freddie squealed as Jim entered the room in total shock.

"I don't understand." Jim gasped, his eyes widening, "I thought you made sure that all of your cats were properly spayed and neutered."

"Don't be ridiculous, darling, this didn't occur naturally. You see, unlike you and me," Freddie insinuated with a wink, "our precious Delilah is still as pure as the Virgin Mary herself. This miracle was achieved through a magical wish, and that's all I'm allowed to tell you."

"Oh, Freddie, you lovable moron." Jim laughed, pulling his husband into a hug, "Don't tell me this was your wish?" Of course Jim wasn't angry that Freddie had essentially wasted his wish. This was exactly what he had expected from the beautiful cat loving singer.

For once in his life, Freddie was quiet, just snuggling against Jim's chest. Freddie was afraid that Jim would be disappointed in him. If Freddie had a second chance, he would wish that their marriage could be legitimized by law. Thankfully, the phone rang, so Freddie had an excuse to pull himself out of his somber shift in mood. "I'll be right back, love. Start bonding with the grandkids, but don't name them yet. I want us to do that together."

Who could ever be calling at this early hour? Even Joe and Phoebe didn't usually arrive until 8 or 9. Expecting a crazed fan who had somehow gotten his number, Freddie answered the phone. "Hello, darling, you've reached the Garden Lodge. This is the one and only Freddie Mercury speaking." He paused waiting for the ear splitting squeals from an insane fangirl. It didn't come.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't pick up, Freddie." It was Anita, "I think Brian lied to me. He said you were meeting the boys at the studio this morning. I didn't want to to doubt him, but he's been acting so strange lately especially this morning. It was like he was a completely different person."

Shit! Brian had his reasons for lying to his girlfriend, and Freddie figured it was all to keep his planned engagement a surprise. That was why he was supposedly acting weird. Freddie decided to cover for his friend. "Oh, I was just about getting ready to go. You caught me on my way out actually." He lied, "I was running late as usual. You'll never believe it. Delilah had kittens!"

"Really?" Anita gasped relief audible in her voice, "Congratulations! You must be one proud pet owner—I mean father."

"Grandfather now." Freddie laughed with pride, "Anyway, dear, don't worry about Brian. He has his reasons for acting strange. Just know that he loves you very much, and I'm sure everything will be resolved after our first show." Fuck! Freddie almost gave away that Brian would be proposing in the middle of their first show. He needed to hang up and he needed to hang up now. "I shouldn't keep the boys waiting any longer. Goodbye!" It was abrupt, but it did the trick. Hopefully, Brian wasn't in too much trouble with Anita.

"Freddie, I think there's someone at the door." Jim got his attention.

It was half past 7, so it was still too early for Joe or Phoebe. Freddie scooped up two of the new kittens into his arms and went to answer the door. The flamboyant frontman loved to make an impression, and what better way to greet his visitor than to hold two newborn kittens to show off? Of course with all of the commotion, Freddie failed to remember that he was still in his boxers and literally nothing else.

Both Brian and Roger had seen Freddie in plenty of his revealing stage outfits over the years, so they had grown accustomed to seeing this much of his skin. It was just part of the bargain of being Freddie's close friend and bandmate. Still, the sight of Freddie shamelessly opening the door in this state made Brian gasp uncomfortably, feeling himself blush. People often equated Deaky as the sweet and innocent member of the band, but Brian was the prude who felt uneasy with the topic of sex or promiscuity in general. Go figure, he just happen to be the lead guitarist for arguably one of the sexiest rock bands in the world. The boys (especially Roger) would mock him repeatedly for his shyness around sex, but he couldn't help it. Despite writing Fat Bottomed Girls, he considered himself a gentleman.

"Oh please, Roger, don't act like that! I know you'd also flaunt yourself around naked given the chance." Freddie chuckled, realizing that he had forgotten to put on clothes, "Look at Brian over here putting on a brave face! You didn't even flinch, darling. I'm proud of you, you prude poodle." He playfully flicked his fingers through the taller man's curls, waiting for Brian (which of course he didn't know was Roger) to tell him to cut it out. Roger, on the other hand, did not realize that Freddie was attempting to tease Brian to get a reaction. Back in 70s when Roger and Freddie still had long hair, they would often brush and braid each other's, so he didn't consider this an invasion of personal space and allowed Freddie to play with his newfound curly mane.

"Are you feeling okay, Bri?" Freddie drawled, "I figured by now you would have punched my lights out."

"Why would I punch y—" Roger began, but Brian cut him off. "—He's not feeling okay. That's why we came here actually."

"Where the hell are my manners?" Freddie exclaimed, "Take a kitty and come in." Rather forcefully, Freddie handed over the two kittens to his friends—one for Brian and one for Roger. If Brian really wasn't feeling himself, then petting the cute kitten would lift his spirit, right? At least that was Freddie's logic. The boys accepted the cats without question. There were much stranger things that could happen than Freddie offering them a cat. Waking up in your best friend's body was one of those things.

"Joe isn't here yet so I don't have any food I can offer you. Jim makes good tea though. I could ask him to put on a kettle." Freddie said as he threw himself down on the couch and gestured for them to get comfy as well.

"That's okay." Brian said, "We won't be staying very long. After this we need to go to Deaky's to tell him—"

"—I'm sorry, Rog," Freddie interrupted, "I just can't take you seriously with your glasses on! God, I didn't even know you had glasses. We should go to that eyewear store in the mall and pick out better frames if your eyes are truly giving you a problem. I might be able to find you a pair to help bring out the blue in your eyes and actually make you look good."

"I think he looks good enough." Roger said defiantly. Of course he loathed Brian for continuing to wear those dreaded glasses that looked horrendous, but he wasn't about to sit back and let Freddie insult his (or rather Brian's) appearance.

"And what do you know about fashion, my dear? You wear fucking clogs!" Freddie pointed out.

"What's wrong with clogs?" Brian couldn't stop himself from blurting.

"You're just being nice because Brian is sitting next to you, but the other day you told me he looks like a feudal peasant whenever he wears them, so you can drop the act, Roggie. I know you think they're just as ridiculous as I do." Freddie betrayed.

Roger held back his fit of giggles as Brian tried his best not to send Roger a death glare for insulting him behind his back. This was not how this meeting was supposed to go. Brian decided to get them back on track. "Look, we came here to tell you that we need to cancel the first two shows." He held his breath waiting for Freddie's reaction.

The sing rolled his head back and laughed, guffawing until there were tears in his eyes. Then he saw the serious look on his bandmates' faces and that fit of laughter shifted to one of rage. "Oh you can't be fucking serious! We never cancel shows unless it is an absolute emergency. That's been an agreed upon band rule since day one."

"But it is an emergency." Roger said holding up his bandaged fingertips, "I can't play. I have too many paper cuts."

"Paper cuts!" Freddie cried, "Really? Suck it up, you fucking baby! This is so unlike you, Bri. Remember when you had your hepatitis health scare? You were in the hospital, and we really thought you wouldn't make it. The next day you were up and ready to play again as if nothing had happened."

Brian knew that Roger's idea wouldn't work. Of course, his illness and hospital stay hadn't crossed his mind, but he certainly didn't need the guilty reminder. Roger cringed at Freddie's harsh tone, recalling how he really did think he was going to lose his best friend and how hard he had cried before Brian's recovery.

"So what's your excuse, Roggie? I sure as hell hope you're only here to help me talk Brian out of this madness!" Freddie exclaimed.

Clearly, the plan was failing, but Brian went forward with it anyway. "I'm actually here in solidarity. If Bri won't play, then neither will I."

"This is ridiculous! You're both bloody playing!" Freddie shouted, "I'm not going to let you disappoint all of our fans over some goddamn paper cuts. If you refuse to play, you'll make Deaky cry. What kind of fucking monsters are willing to make Deaky cry?"

"Fred—"

"Please let me finish my rant, darling." Freddie rather politely said before lashing out even further, "I had a dream last night, and I'm not going to lie it was one of the scariest things I've ever experienced. I was sick—no I wasn't just sick, I was dying, and it was horrible. My entire body was withering away to the point that I was gaunt and covered in blisters. Everything I did caused me pain. I could barely walk and I was going blind. There was nothing I could do to stop it. So, do you know what I did? I sang. I fucking sang my heart out until I physically couldn't sing anymore. So don't you dare talk to me about paper cuts. One way or another, the show must go on!"

There was no giving in. Brian and Roger were going to have to face it with a grin. How could they argue with Freddie after he verbally attacked them like that? Of course under normal circumstances, both the guitarist and the drummer would have agreed with Freddie that paper cuts were a lame excuse and they needed to play no matter what. However, this was far from a normal circumstance. Feeling guilty from Freddie's rant, Roger plucked the bandaids off of his fingers. "Look at that, they're already healed! I guess I can play after all."

Pressing his lips together, Freddie stared directly at Roger. His black eyes were intense and seemed to almost lure the truth out of Roger's lips like the hypnosis of a siren. The drummer was seconds away from blurting out "I'm not Brian and he's not Roger! That's what this is all about!", but Freddie's gaze softened. "I think I can see what's going on here." He said.

"You can?" Brian and Roger asked in unison.

"You're trying to get out of proposing to Anita, aren't you Brian?" Freddie surmised with a sly smile.

"Wait what?" Roger blurted turning to Brian as if to ask 'why didn't you tell me you were getting engaged?'.

"And you probably convinced Roger to help you get out of it by coming up with some ridiculous scheme involving bloody paper cuts and whatnot." Freddie assumed.

Brian decided to go with this explanation. If they told Freddie the truth, then they wouldn't get their bodies back. So he forced a laugh. "I guess you caught us, Freddie! That's exactly what's going on. Brian is second guessing the engagement, and...and he really shouldn't be because he loves Anita and there's nothing to worry about."

Wow! Where did that epiphany come from? Too bad it only took being sentenced to his best friend's body for Brian to figure out that he didn't want to back out of the proposal. This was something he wanted wholeheartedly and wouldn't come to regret.

"Words of wisdom from your best friend, Bri. You should really listen to him because I think it's true. There's nothing to worry about." Freddie was trying to reassure Brian, but little did he know he was upsetting Roger. The thought of proposing to his best friend's girlfriend made Roger feel super anxious and awkward. Thankfully, Brian likely wouldn't be proposing until after the tour, or at least until after they got their bodies back.

"Rog, Deaky and I will all be at your side when you pop the question, and we'll ensure that everything goes exactly according to plan. All you have to do is remember to have the ring in your pocket before we go on stage." Freddie continued.

"I-I'm proposing on stage?" Roger stammered.

"Of course, dear. You told me the plan yesterday. While you're singing 39, I'm going to pull Anita up onstage, and when the song is done, you'll get down on one knee. Of course she'll say yes and give you a big kiss. Then I'll dedicate You Take my Breath Away to the two of you and the entire audience will be crying with tears of joy. I know you're scared now, but believe me, you'll be happy when it's all said and done."

"Yes, well, I've changed my mind. I think I'm going to propose  _after_ the tour. If we do it in private, it'll be more romantic." Roger reasoned.

Brian wanted to point out that it had taken him months to figure out the most romantic way to propose, and this was his favorite option out of all of his scrapped ideas. However, now he realized that it didn't matter when where or how he proposed so long as  _he_  was the one going down on one knee. Anita was the love of his life, not Roger's.

"Darling, you can't change your mind." Freddie pouted, "I've already sent the updated setlist to the technicians at the venue, and I spent hours on the phone with their security team so that they don't throw a fit when I go into the audience to pull Anita up onstage."

"I really don't think the time is right." Roger said, "Maybe at the third show instead of the first or second?"

"What difference does a week make?"

"A week could make all the difference." Brian said.

"It's only seven bloody days!" Freddie cried, "It's not like you'll suddenly become a completely different person."

Oh, if only he knew. Roger was tempted to tell him, but he knew better. If anyone found out, then he for sure would have to be the one to propose to Anita as he'd be stuck in Brian's body forever. He shuddered at the thought.

"Why do you two look so dismal? We're about to go on tour, Delilah had miracle kittens, and I'm healthy as a horse! I think such good times call for a celebration. Stay put and I'll go get us some champaign."

"Freddie, it's not even 8 in the morning. Isn't that a little early for drinking?" Brian asked.

"For you of all people, Rog, don't make me laugh! You're probably already drunk." Freddie said as he made his way to the cellar. He returned with the bottle and poured them each a glass and made a toast. "To wishes coming true!" "To wishes coming true!" They reluctantly repeated and clinked their glasses together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it—The show must go on! Not gonna lie, I'm actually pretty upset that the Wishing Wizard is nothing more than a creature of my imagination because I would totally make Jim's wish. RIP Freddie😢   
> On a lighter note, do you think the paper cut excuse can get me out of a quiz? If I show up to class on Monday with 10 bandaids and tell my professor that I was reading the chapter so diligently that I got 10 papercuts and can't write on the quiz, will he just give me a free A? Probably not, LOL. Anyway 2 more weeks until finals and then I can update more frequently!   
> I'll try to include more of Deaky in the next chapter because I feel like he was left out of this one.   
> Wow! This is a long AN full of rambles. I'll stop now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for more!


	4. It's a Kind of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Roger discover that the wish led to more than just physical changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. Happy Easter and Happy Passover! I can't believe that I'm almost at 900 hits! That's amazing and I can't thank you enough! Please continue to leave kudos and comments. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Enjoy! <3

“How could you call me a feudal peasant behind my back?” Brian cried, well aware that he sounded petty.

“How could you get engaged without telling me?” Roger countered, clearly more upset about this revelation than Freddie’s betrayal, “I thought we were best friends, Bri. I tell you everything!”

“First of all, I’m not engaged yet.” Brian stated, “And second of all, we all know you can’t keep a secret, Roger. You would’ve spoiled the surprise.” There was another reason Brian was hesitant to tell Roger about his engagement plans, but it was more difficult to explain.

“I’m keeping  _this_ secret pretty well.” Roger let go of the wheel for a moment to gesture to his curls, “Freddie didn’t suspect a thing!"

"Are you mad? Of course Freddie suspected that we were acting strange. It's only a matter of time until one of us spills." 

"Don't change the topic, Brian. You could’ve told me. I would’ve been able to stay quiet or at least avoid Anita until you proposed.”

“It’s more complicated than that.” Brian sighed.

“You complicate everything!” Roger took out his frustration on the road, speeding through a red light.  _‘Please don’t let me die in this car!’_ Brian thought. “Roger, please slow down! If we get into a crash and one of us dies, then the other one will be stuck like this forever.”

“I won’t slow down until you apologize!” The immature tone sounded so foreign in Brian’s voice, but Roger stood by his words. He wanted an apology. If he were to get engaged, Brian would be the first person he’d share the news with, and the fact that Brian didn’t feel the same way angered him.

“Fine, I’m sorry!” Brian exclaimed.

“You don’t sound like you mean it.” Roger groaned, using more force on the accelerator.

“For the love of God! Slow down! Are you trying to get us killed?”

“Say you’re sorry for real.”

“I’m sorry!” Brian cried, watching his life flash before his eyes along with the blurring road as the car dashed faster and faster. “Roger, I’m really sorry.”

The car decelerated as Roger put the brakes on. He rolled his head back in laughter as he saw his own face paled and terrified in the passenger seat. Was this what he looked like when he was around spiders because if that were the case, he didn’t blame his friends for mocking him. “Bri, we’re okay.” Roger assured him wondering what it would be like to give his adorable trembling self a hug.

“You’re an idiot!” Brian scoffed, “But I suppose I should have told you about my engagement. I just thought you’d tell me to be impulsive and get down on one knee without even thinking it through. Strangely enough that’s exactly whatFreddie told me.”

“I’m upset that you went to Freddie before me, but he’s right. I don’t understand. You didn’t want to tell me you wanted to get engaged because I’d tell you to go get engaged?”

“It does sound silly when you put it that way.” Brian waited for his heart to stop beating so quickly from the car scare before going more in depth with his explanation. “I wanted someone to go through all of the pros and cons to help me reach a rational decision. I figured Freddie wouldn’t let me make a mistake especially if I incorporated that mistake into the concert. If the proposal would backfire, he would tell me not to risk our time on stage to do it. Does that make sense?”

“You think too much.” Roger muttered as he pulled into the parking lot.

“I know.” Brian acknowledged, “That’s why I made this wish.”

“Because I don’t think at all?” Roger assumed this was where he was going.

“No! You only think about the important things that are worthy of mulling over. You know exactly when to waste time in your own mind and that’s why you’re so quick to take action. I admire that about you, Roggie.”

“Don’t call me Roggie. You’re still not forgiven.” He hostilely got out of the car, slamming the door a bit too hard. “Sorry, Jenna.” He whispered realizing that his car wasn’t the one he was mad at.

Brian paused at the door to the studio, glancing in the direction of the path leading to the wishing well. They probably wouldn’t have much luck negotiating with the Wishing Wizard again. With a sigh, he followed Roger into the studio. They only had an hour or two at most until Anita would get worried that he was gone too long, so they had to be efficient. While Roger was already familiar with guitar (although obviously nowhere near as a competent as Brian), drums were completely foreign to Brian. He knew how to play piano to some extent and Freddie had given him some pointers to improve in that area, but other than that he was only keen on guitar.

Without a care in the world, Roger fastened the guitar over his shoulders. He knew it wasn’t the real Red Special and just a replica they kept in the studio, so there was no reason to worry. It was actually kind of exciting to be trying something new for a change. He began strumming the basic chords he was familiar with, surprised how it came to him so naturally. His fingers just seemed to know what to do. “I think I have your muscle memory.”

“Well that’s what we’re hoping for because we’ll have to rely on it.” Brian said, staring at the drum set which now appeared intimidating.

“You’ll be fine, Bri. I can drum in my sleep. My muscle memory’s probably great.” Roger grinned as he realized he was still playing the chords without even looking down at his hands, “This is so cool!”

“You’re only playing basic chords that you probably already knew how to play. You’re lucky you’re coming in with some prior knowledge. I’ve got nothing.” Brian sighed. He took a seat behind the drum set, staring down cluelessly not even knowing where to begin. This was going to be a disaster!

“You know everything there is to know about everything. So don’t say you have nothing.” Roger assured him, “You have me.” He walked over to where Brian was sitting and got behind him. “Now for once in your life, don’t think.” Roger whispered, taking Brian’s drumstick grasping hands in his. Roger guided Brian’s hands across the drums, beating to the very familiar rhythm of  _We Will Rock You._

‘ _Roger stood with John and Freddie following Brian’s stomping and clapping in unison. “Now imagine an entire stadium doing this along with us.” Brian said excitedly. Roger nearly burst with eagerness at the thought. “This is brilliant, Bri! It’s practically made for drums!”_

_Before anyone could say anything, he rushed behind the drum set and began to recreate the beat with the instrument. John and Brian were both smiling, but Roger knew he was nailing it when Freddie nodded in approval. The singer turned to Brian. “What’s the lyric, darling?”’_

Brian blinked in shock, not sure where that memory had come from. Of course he had been there that day, but how could he now remember it from Roger’s perspective in addition to his own? That was impossible! Speaking of impossible, Brian no longer felt Roger’s hands guiding his own. He was playing the drums like a pro all by himself with no help.

“I told you my muscle memory is fantastic. Look at you go! You’re just like me.” Roger exclaimed proudly.

“I think this is more than just muscle memory, Rog. It’s a kind of magic.” Brian could reach no other conclusion. Science couldn’t explain any of this. It had to be magic as the Wishing Wizard himself was a creature of magic.

“Just don’t think about it.” Roger said. Using his own advice, he shut his eyes and attempted to empty his mind. He simply allowed Brian’s fingers to guide him through the guitar solo. He had heard and seen Brian do it possibly hundreds of times, but Roger knew he was incapable of recreating the sound. Yet, here was hitting each note and rocking it like a true legend—and he was doing it with his eyes closed! There was no doubt about it; muscle memory was real. “Did you see that, Bri?” Roger proclaimed, “I got it perfectly in one try! I sounded just like you do on the album! Sometimes  _you_  don’t even get it that good live.”

“It shouldn’t be coming this easily to us.” Brian said looking down at his hands. Something about their newfound skills seemed unnatural. He tried to will himself to just accept the magic and not question it, but in the back of his mind he couldn’t escape the wrongness of this whole situation. It was almost as if he were an intruder overlooking a mind filled with memories and talents that weren’t rightfully his own.

Meanwhile, Roger wasn’t paying any attention to Brian’s qualms. Instead he was focused on perfecting the one thing he knew he would have to deliver with divine quality during the concert: Brian’s iconic guitar riffs in Queen’s magnum opus known as Bohemian Rhapsody.

‘ _Freddie was speaking to John and Roger from behind the glass, but Brian couldn't hear what he was saying. The singer seemed pleased, so that was a good sign. Feeling that he had done the best he could, Brian anxiously awaited Freddie’s feedback. “Press the button, Fred.” he prompted, figuring that Freddie forgot he couldn’t hear him._

_“It’s good.” Freddie voice came through on the speaker, “Just play it like you wrote it.”_

_“Well, I did write that part.” Brian reminded him.’_

“What the hell?” Roger whispered as he finished the solo. That memory clearly didn’t belong to him. He had been in the room with Deaky listening to Freddie talk about how brilliant Brian’s performance was before telling the guitarist to give it more rock and roll and a bit more heart in order to push him to reach his absolute greatest potential. How could Roger remember what it had been like for Brian to be on the receiving end of that conversation?

“Alright.” Brian said embracing the uncomfortable feeling for the sake of putting on Queen concert on par with the band’s phenomenal standards, “Let’s go through the setlist once just like we planned?”

Roger shook the strange flashback aside and nodded. “Next song after  _We Will Rock You_ is  _Keep Yourself Alive_ , right?”

“That’s correct.” Brian said situating himself behind the drums again.

“Think you’re up for the drum solo in that?”

“I don’t exactly have a choice, Rog. Let’s do it!”

They rolled through the song nearly flawlessly. Brian surprised himself with how well he (or rather Roger’s muscle memory) executed the incredibly difficult drum solo it featured. It was as if he had been doing it for years like the real Roger.

 _“Do you think you're better every day?”_ They both sang.

“Sorry.” Roger stopped, “I forgot I don’t sing that verse anymore.”

“That’s okay.” Brian said, “It’s why we’re practicing now so we don’t make fools of ourselves in concert.”

Roger was once again reminded of why he had made this wish. Brian was so patient and understanding unlike the drummer who was prone to rages and fits like a petulant child. “Let’s try again.” Brian said distracting Roger from his self deprecating thoughts.

 _“Do you think you’re better every day?”_ Without Roger accompanying him this time, Brian was able to hear his new raspier voice that was higher than his normal vocal range.

“ _No,”_  Roger sang back in Brian’s voice, “ _I just—_ Fuck! I actually have no idea what you say there!”

“Really?” Brian laughed, “This was our first single as Queen. We’ve been playing it since our very first gig with Freddie as our frontman.”

“What can I say? You don’t enunciate that part and I never cared to learn the words because I didn’t imagine I’d ever have to sing it, let alone in your voice.”

“But it’s  _Keep Yourself Alive_.” Brian stressed the song’s title, shocked that Roger wasn’t giving it the respect it deserved, “Doesn’t it hold some sort of nostalgic value for you enough to bother learning the lyrics? I mean it was—“

“—It was my audition song.” The musicians jumped in response to the sudden voice, looking up to see John standing in the threshold awkwardly. He waved, unsure of what else to do. 

“Deaky?” Roger cried, “You gave us a real fright!”

“How long were you standing there, mate?” Brian asked, fidgeting with the drumsticks in his hands.

“Not too long. You’re talking about  _Keep Yourself Alive_ , right? That’s what you had me audition with, remember? It is quite nostalgic.” John sighed lost in thought about how he had auditioned for Queen on a whim not daring to believe that they would become one of the biggest bands in the world. “Anyway, I just came here looking for Robert’s coloring book. I believe he left it here the last time Ronnie brought the kids to come visit us to see how Daddy works with his uncles to make music. It’s chaos in the Deacon household right now. We’re trying to get everything ready for the trip. I’m hoping Laura and Michael will nap on the plane, but if Robert doesn’t have his coloring book, he’ll get bored and bother you guys.”

“Little Robert could never be a bother to us. We love him like we would our own.” Brian said sweetly and genuinely. In other words, it was not something the always sarcastic and witty Roger would say. Of course Roger loved his niece and nephews to bits and pieces (and was just as happy as John himself to learn that Veronica was expecting another baby shortly after the tour), but he tended to be a bit of a bad influence over the younglings. Even though Roger always meant well, Ronnie was often afraid to let him babysit, and it would be even worse if the kids were left alone with both Roger and Freddie. John and Ronnie would return from a needed date night away from their children for a few hours only to discover that one of the kids had learned a new “special word” that either Uncle Roger or Uncle Freddie had made them promise to never repeat as only grownups were allowed it use it. For Freddie, the use of profanity was accidental but nonetheless inevitable. Roger, on the other hand, found swearing toddlers to be the most hilarious thing in the world and sometimes purposefully brought his sailor mouth to visit the Deacons.

“So what are you two doing here?” John inquired.

“We were just getting in some last minute practice before we leave.” Roger said.

“Practicing 39 I bet. You need to get used to singing it live, don’t you, Bri?” He laughed at Roger’s confused face. “Freddie called me this morning in a frenzy saying that Roger had concocted this crazy scheme involving paper cuts to cancel the concert to get Brian out of proposing. How could you do that, Rog? The plan is so sweet and I think Anita will love it.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking honestly.” Brian said, “I haven’t really been myself lately.”

“Well that explains the glasses. Trying for a new look? I think I like them. They make you look smart. You should wear them more often especially if they’re more for practical use than fashion.” John never understood why Roger put up with his inferior eyesight, but he knew better than to pester the drummer about it. Either way, he was glad that Roger had somehow come to his senses and overcome his stubbornness. What did it matter what he looked like if he couldn’t even see himself otherwise?

“Thanks, Deaky.” Brian said glancing at Roger somewhat smugly.

‘ _He only thinks I look smart because it’s Brian in there and not my usual empty brain.’_ Roger thought glumly to himself. These negative thoughts were familiar to Roger, but he was usually much better at dismissing them and carrying on as if nothing really mattered. Now, however, the thoughts were much louder and more pervasive, nearly drowning out the positive ones. The dark thoughts loomed regardless of how hard Roger tried to will them away. They clouded his mind creating a fog making difficult to even focus on other things to make him happy. Whenever he began to feel better, the self deprecation would creep back in and drag him down again like ominous ropes pulling a climber down into an abyss. It had been like this from the moment he woke up and Roger could only blame it on his mind rejecting the body he was in and fighting back with a slew of negative thoughts. Brian was probably experiencing the same thing.

“Oh no, Roger!” John’s startled shout was meant for Brian, but the drummer automatically became alert at the mention of his name. “Whatever you do, don’t look behind you!” John warned. Of course, Roger had to give in to his curiosity, so he spotted the creepy crawling demon monster from the depths of hell situated directly on one of his precious cymbals before Brian could even turn around to see the spider for himself. Leaping behind Freddie’s piano, Roger screamed and screamed until his voice grew hoarse. 

‘ _I’m not going to have any voice left when I get my body back.’_ Brian thought, imaging how painful it must be to stretch his vocal chords to make those unnaturally high pitched shrills. He didn’t know he had it in him, but evidently Roger was able to bring his voice to its highest physical capacity without even trying.

John laughed. “Oh this is just too good! Now you see how ridiculous you look when you pull this stunt, Roger. We all have to put up with your melodramatics over an itty-bitty spider.”

“Kill it!” Roger screamed, “Kill it with fire!”

“Okay, he’s learned his lesson. You can stop now, Brian.” John said still failing to realize that “Brian” wasn’t acting.

“I said kill that motherfucker!” Roger shouted, taking off one of his clogs to throw at the cymbal. Using precise aim, he successfully managed to crush the spider making Brian cringe. He hated it when innocent creatures suffered, or heaven forbid died. “Roger, how could you?” He scolded, “That spider did absolutely nothing wrong, and you murdered it!”

“Don’t take the spider’s side, Brian! That monster was trespassing on  _my_  cymbal. He had it coming.”

Suddenly forgetting about the spider, Brian realized that John was still in the room. He cursed at himself for slipping up. There was no way they could explain this to this bassist. They had broken the wizard’s one rule, and now they’d be stuck like this forever as consequence.

“Blimey! You two flip-flopped.” John gasped. After getting over his initial shock, he gave it some thought, considering how Roger had confided in him the other day saying that he wished he were more like Brian. “This is the work of the Wishing Wizard, isn’t it?”

“W-what are you talking about, Deaky? What’s a Wishing Wizard?” Roger laughed nervously.

As if on cue, the wizard himself suddenly emerged out of Freddie’s piano like it were his wishing well. Brian and Roger both gasped, but John only nodded. “ _That’s_ a Wishing Wizard. Good to see you again, Mr. Wizard.”

“Good morning to you, Deaky. I’m glad to see you are doing well. No need for the formalities. You may call me Wisher.”

“Can we call you Wisher?” Roger asked.

“No, you may not, Mr. May.” Wisher said addressing Roger with Brian’s surname instead of his own again, “To you, I am known as Mr. Wizard. Only Mr. Deacon may call me Wisher and I shall call him Deaky. Is that to be understood?”

“I’ll call you a big talking small fry!” Roger scoffed, “What are you doing in Freddie’s piano anyway? Shouldn’t you be swimming around in your stupid well waiting for another idiot to bamboozle into a curse disguised as a wish?”

“Rog, that’s enough. You need to hold your tongue around the wizard if you want your body back in seven days.” Brian hissed.

“First of all, I saved Mr. Mercury’s life,” Wisher humbly announced, “so I doubt he will have any problems with me using his piano as a temporary home. Now to answer your question, my well has been destroyed. Another one of those rotten scientists attempted to kidnap me again and completely dismantled my home so they could analyze it in a laboratory. I barely escaped with my life.”

“Scientists?” Brian asked.

“Yes, the same ones I escaped from years ago after being experimented on. They have found me again and no doubt wanted to dissect me this time. Thankfully I escaped, but alas my wishing well dwelling did not share my same fortunate fate.”

“I bet they’re the same scientists who do all sorts unethical testing on animals.” Brian remarked, “I’ve been trying to use my fame to speak out and put a stop to their evil ways, but their lobby is much more powerful than I originally anticipated. I have managed to save quite a few badgers though.”

“I have been running from the scientists my entire life. I thought I had finally found solitude in my wishing well. To rebuild it, I will need to find a new spot that has the proper magical qualities. Unfortunately, I cannot reuse any locations where I have previously resided because the magic is drained.”

“Oh Wisher, you poor thing!” John exclaimed, “I can take you back to my flat where you’ll be safe. I’ll make you cheese on toast. I’m sure Ronnie won’t mind, and I have a feeling my children will adore you. They love cute and cuddly things like Freddie’s cats, and you’re no exception.”

“That is very kind of you, Deaky, but I am afraid that if I do not find a new spot to construct a wishing well within the next seven days, I will perish.”

“That deadline sounds very familiar.” Roger muttered, “It’s almost like you’re seeing things from someone else’s perspective.”

“Do not compare our situations, Mr. May. You will not be dying in seven days. If anything, you will want to stay this way forever. It is after all what you wished for, and my magic would not have worked if this were not the desired effect.”

“We obviously need you alive at the end of these seven days so that you can switch us back.” Brian said, “So how about we make another bargain? If we help you find a new spot to build your well, you’ll change us back regardless of whether or not we’ve followed all of your rules.”

“Magic does not work like that, Mr. Taylor. It is binding. Until you embrace the rules of our agreement in the seven days I have allotted, I cannot change you back even I wanted to. You are already becoming each other, and if you would stop fighting back against the magic, you will find that you enjoy these new changes.”

“Well either way, we are going to help you with your well because you’re a creature in need and you’re very lucky that I’m a sympathetic person.” Brian said.

“Why the hell should we help him? He ruined our lives!” Roger cried.

“Mr. Taylor just reminded you that you are a sympathetic person, Mr. May. Perhaps you should call upon that attribute.” Wisher said.

“Brian was referring to himself not me! We look like each other but we still have our own brains so you need to put an end to this bullshit.”

“Are you sure about that?” Wisher laughed. He manifested a pen and paper out of thin air and began to write something down. When he was finished, he handed it over to Roger. At first Roger was intimidated when he saw the troubling equations on the page realizing it was a physics problem. He was about to turn to Brian for help, but he somehow knew where to begin and worked out the answer, solving it within five minutes. “How the hell do I know how to do this?” Roger wondered.

“The same way you know how to play guitar like an expert.” Wisher replied.

Roger ignored him and gave the paper over Brian. For once in his life he was praying that he was wrong because the stolen knowledge was scaring him. Beyond feeling like an imposter, there was a sickening aura that Roger couldn't understand. It was almost as if parts of his own identity were peeling away like crumbling drywall. “Bri, did I get it right?”

Brian looked down at the paper, expecting to be able to understand it, but he couldn’t. He froze in a sudden panic. This couldn’t be happening! Roger was waiting for a confirmation, so he couldn't deny what had happened. “I-I wouldn’t know.” he stammered, “It’s strange. I remember knowing how to solve this kind of problem. I have a memory of learning the steps, but I-I…It’s lost. I don’t think I have the knowledge anymore.” Admitting it out loud made it even more terrifying. Brian was losing himself! 

Roger officially lost his temper, and Brian had to hold him back as he lunged at Wisher. “What did you do to us?”

“This is what you wished for.” Wisher said.

“Why would they wish to become each other?” John inquired.

“It is what they wanted.”

“No!” Roger cried, “We did not want this! How could we ever want this?”

“And we really didn’t mean for Deaky to find out, so please give us another chance to fix this.” Brian begged.

“Calm yourselves.” Wisher said, “I am aware that you did not tell Deaky and he figured it out on his own, but that is because you referred to yourselves in the wrong names and you were not acting in character." He turned to the bassist. "Deaky, my friend, I ask for your help because I want these two to succeed on their journey of self discovery. Help them learn to become one another and keep the magic making this transition possible a secret from everyone else.”

“I don’t know, Wisher.” John sighed, “Look how unhappy they are. I think things would be better off if they were back in their own bodies. I don’t like keeping secrets either.”

“They are unhappy because they are not embracing the magic as they should. I expect that they will begin to respond better to their new lives within the next few days. They are simply in the adjustment period.”

“I don’t know what you want from us!” Brian cried, “I’m still me even with all this magic working to make me Roger. It just won’t work. It’s not natural.”

“Well maybe you should at least try.” John suggested realizing that Wisher was just as stubborn as his friends.

“Whose side are you on, Deaky?” Roger exclaimed.

“I’m not on anyone’s side. I just want to help you get through this without losing your heads. I don’t think Wisher is going to undo whatever you got yourselves into as easily as you’d like to believe. Now that you’re stuck like this, you should at least listen to Wisher. If you don’t take his advice, you may never get back to normal.”

“Deaky is of the purest of heart.” Wisher said, “Heed his message.”

“Fine.” Brian finally snapped, Roger’s rage reaching  him at last.  In the nastiest tone he could muster, he declared, “I’m Roger Taylor and I fuck cars. Are you happy now?”

“Well I’m Brian May and I care more about bloody badgers than my friends and family.” Roger mocked in return with just as much vitriol. 

“This isn’t going to work.” John sighed.

“Have faith, Deaky. My magic always works out in the end.” Wisher said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up soon. I have finals next week and I’m also working on my other story Rebels of Rhye, but I will try my best to post within a week (hopefully). I love hearing your comments, so don’t be shy!


	5. I'm Going Slightly Mad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian has an identity crisis, and Roger is having mixed feelings about his wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m supposed to be studying finals, but instead I decided to give you guys a new chapter. I hope you appreciate this! I cannot believe I’m over 1000 hits. Thank you so much and continue to leave comments and kudos.

Brian couldn’t believe that Roger hadn’t started packing and they were leaving in a matter of hours. Frantically, he attempted to stuff everything Roger (or in this case he) would need to survive for the next few months on the road into a single suitcase. Wisher sat atop Roger’s bed watching him curiously. Brian felt bad for the creature after learning of his hardships with the immoral scientists, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t any less tempted to smack the smirk off his face.

It was decided that Wisher would accompany Brian back to Roger’s flat to get ready and everyone would meet up at the airport later. Roger couldn’t take Wisher back to Brian’s flat because Anita was there. John couldn’t take Wisher home either because the wizard feared the Deacon children may mistake him for a toy and roughhouse him. That left Wisher with Brian who was going through an inner turmoil unlike one he had ever experienced in his life. With his love of animals and peaceful nature, Brian had always been a pacifist. However, now he was succumbing to these hostile outbursts and disgusting himself with his violent urges. For instance right now he envisioned himself drowning Wisher in the sink and declaring something along the lines of “How do you like this wishing well!” Brian wouldn’t actually do it of course, but he had a feeling it was an idea Roger would amuse himself with.

“I must say Mr. Taylor your organizational skills are lacking.” Wisher remarked.

Brian looked down at the mess of unfolded clothes and various items tossed into the suitcase as if a tornado had swirled everything all over the place. It was because he was rushing to get the job finished on time, right? Surely Brian wouldn’t be this haphazard with his own packing skills. He usually took extra care in arranging everything neatly and perfectly days before leaving unlike Roger who would just…throw everything he could fit into his suitcase and attempt to zip it up without breaking it. Shit!

“Get a grip!” Brian told himself, “You’re still you. You just look like and sound like Roger, but you’re not him.”

“I still do not understand why are you fighting against these changes.” Wisher said.

“You need to shut the fuck up!” Brian covered his mouth realizing that he would never snap so harshly at anyone unless he was further provoked.

“Quite a temper you have.” Wisher laughed, “I did try to warn you to think twice before you made the wish. Still, you failed to consider each other’s negative features. You only saw what you wanted to become.”

Fighting against the urge to throw something at the wizard, Brian inhaled and exhaled trying to bring back his usual ability to reason. He needed answers, and using force against Wisher would not solve any of his problems despite what he suddenly wanted to do. “This is more than what we wished for. When I was in the studio, the music triggered some of Roger’s memories like they were my own. I wasn’t able to solve that physics problem even though I should have easily been able to. And now I can’t seem to control my temper, which isn’t like me at all.”

“What you are experiencing is very normal for this kind of wish. You are simply transitioning from one brain into another.” Wisher stated this so casually, but Brian went into a panic. He was on the verge of an identity crisis, and the thought of literally losing his mind was terrifying. “What the hell have you done?” Brian cried.

“The deal still stands. If you embrace the magic and follow my rules, then when the seven days are up and if I have managed to build my new wishing well, the magic will reverse itself. However, if you choose to remain changed, I will allow for that as well. This is not a bad thing, Mr. Taylor.”

“Are you saying it’s a good thing?” Brian shouted.

“I am saying that there is good and bad in everything and everyone. You should recognize that. Let me ask you, since becoming Mr. Taylor, have you felt more free? Perhaps not as overwhelmed by formidable thoughts and an overall gloomy outlook that cannot be explained regardless of whether or not you feel happy.”

“My depression.” Brian acknowledged. Of course he was scared and anxious because of this bizarre situation, but that was all circumstantial. As Wisher said, his depression was unexplainable and could even affect him in the happiest of moods. A sudden weight was lifted off of Brian’s shoulders as he realized that for once in his life, there wasn’t an unavoidable bleakness despite finding himself in such a surreal and overwhelming situation. The only thing plaguing him was Roger’s volatile temper and mood swings.

However, an inescapable thought crossed his mind. Roger was likely the one dealing with his depression right now. While Brian had an entire lifetime to come to terms with his ailment and discovered coping mechanisms like music, reading, and the comfort of friends and loved ones, this would be all new to Roger and he wouldn’t know what to do. Although Brian had thankfully never let things get so dire to the point of hurting himself (he had come close), he feared Roger may take that route.

“What have I done?” He cried realizing what this wish would mean for Roger. It was only seven days but if Roger triggered Brian’s insomnia which was brought about through stress, then it would feel much much longer.

“There is good and bad in everyone.” Wisher said again, “It is a balance that you must learn, and I think it is beneficial for you two to experience each other’s highs and lows to prove that it is not all highs as you originally envisioned.”

“I appreciate that you’re trying to teach us a lesson,” Brian said relieved that he sounded like himself again. Then he had to open his mouth and continue, “but you’re being a real pain in the ass about it.”

He kicked the frame of the bed in realization of what was happening to him. “Stop it!” He screamed at himself, “Stop it! You’re not Roger!”

“You are still thinking too much. Let it happen naturally.” Wisher advised.

“Fuck you!” Brian decided to embrace Roger’s tendency to overuse profanities. It helped him release some of his pent up rage. Was this the kind of restlessness Roger felt when he restrained himself from lashing out? If so, Brian had to give his friend some credit. It was so tempting to just smash something to get rid of this intense feeling.

Instead, Brian shifted his attention back to making sure he had packed everything. The massive hump of clothing and toiletries stacked high in the suitcase seemed to cover everything. Just to be sure, Brian walked around the house to double check that he wasn’t missing anything. Did Roger keep any necessities in the cupboard? He looked inside just to be certain. Surprisingly enough, the cupboard was completely empty. Odd. Why bother installing a cupboard if you’re not going to use it? Although Roger probably purposefully kept it empty in case he ever needed to repeat the stunt he had pulled at Ridge Farm. Brian laughed at the memory of how his stubborn friend had somehow managed to cram his body inside the tiny space refusing to come out until Freddie agreed to add  _I’m in Love With My Car_ to the B-side of  _Bohemian Rhapsody_. “How in the world could you fit in here?” Brian asked a nonexistent Roger. He had to wonder…

_‘Don’t do it Brian!’_  The part of himself that was still cognizant scolded the temptation. ‘ _It’s foolish and you’ll probably end up getting stuck. Is that what you want?’_ But then there was the part of his brain that was colliding with Roger’s and becoming one.  _‘Come on!’_ It urged, ‘ _Aren’t you the least bit curious? Once you get your body back, you’ll be too tall to fit in there, so this is your one and only chance.’_

Wisher would only let them return to normal at the end of seven days if they started acting more like each other. That meant Brian had no other choice. Feeling ridiculous, he crouched down and stepped into the cupboard, closing the door to feel the full effect. It was a tight squeeze indeed, and Brian knew that his normally long legs would hinder him in this position, but Roger’s slender body fit perfectly.

‘ _*Bang!* *Bang!* “Roger, for the love of God, get out of there before you suffocate to death!” Brian’s shouts were muffled. *Bang!* *Bang* “Darling, I swear I’m going to kick this bloody thing over if you don’t open it this instant! We’ll put your stupid song on the album if that’s what you want.”_

_“B-Side.” Roger had to yell to make sure Freddie heard him through the door._

_“No!” Freddie cried, “Isn’t having it on the album enough for you? Why does it have to be paired with the brilliance of my Bohemian Rhapsody?”_

_“I can stay in here all night if I have to.” Roger proposed. He was going to get his way no matter what and he was prepared to camp out in here if needed._

_“I think he may just stay in there all night.” Roger was surprised to hear Deaky, figuring it was only Freddie and Brian outside as they were the only two speaking up._

_“Roger you’re being childish.” Brian scolded._

_“Tell Freddie he’s being childish.” Roger retorted._

_“Roger, I may just kill you.” Freddie threatened, “After all, there’s only room in this band for one hysterical queen.”’_

Brian was grinning as he returned from the flashback. “Totally worth it to get my song on the B-side.” He laughed. Wait what? No, that wasn’t right. Brian had wanted one of  _his_ songs on the B-side over  _I’m in Love With my Car._ That wasn’t his song, it was Roger’s. Brian was vouching for either  _39_  or…Shoot! What other songs did he write for that album? He should know this. It was on the tip of his tongue— _Sweet Lady._ Yes that was it. Why did it take him so long to remember his own songs? Brian believed he was going slightly mad. Hopefully the real Roger wasn’t having a breakdown from Brian’s mind meshing with his own.

***

Roger returned to Brian’s flat expecting to be greeted by Anita, but instead Brian’s mother opened the door and pulled him into a hug without warning.

“Mrs. May—I mean Mom!” Roger blurted, “What are you doing here?”

“What are you talking about, son?” Brian’s father was now in line to greet him with a hug of his own, “We always see you off before you leave for your tours.”

“O-of course.” Roger stammered, “How silly of me. The stress must be getting to me.”

“Traveling to America is always very exciting.” Mrs. May remarked, “Do you know where your first stop is?”

“Um…” The venues were usually something Brian and Freddie secured alongside Miami. Roger just went any way the wind blows so long as it led to a good gig. They of course informed him and John where they were heading way in advanced, but Roger didn’t bother to remember. All he knew was that American tours were always very fun and the culture was surprisingly different from state to state.

“We’re going to Florida first.” Anita emerged from the kitchen with some tea, “That’s what you told me anyway, and I should be expecting a surprise at the kickoff show.”

“Florida?” Roger laughed, “Is that right?” The first thing that crossed Roger’s mind was all the suntanned beauties he would see there. Of course looking was the only thing he’d be allowed to do now that he was in Brian’s body. He couldn’t cheat on Anita. He loved her too much. Wait no. Brian loved her too much, and Roger was avoiding hookups for Brian’s sake, not because he had feelings for Anita. Anita was lovely, but Roger had never felt any feelings toward her before. Besides, he doubted they would ever be this intense like he had left his ex wife to be with her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Ex wife? What ex wife? Roger was single.

“Bri, why are you looking at me like that?” Anita asked as she handed him a cup of tea.

Instead of responding, Roger quickly dove onto the couch, reaching for the nearest throw pillow to hide his lower body. ‘ _I’m so sorry, Brian.’_  he thought. This was so wrong! It was Brian’s body reacting to thoughts of his girlfriend, but Roger still didn’t feel comfortable with it at all. Things didn’t get much better when Anita sat down right next to him as she sipped her tea. “It’s peppermint, your favorite. Go on before it gets too cold.”

Roger preferred ginger tea, but he found that this was the best cup of peppermint tea he had ever tasted. Maybe it was because he was drinking Brian’s favorite with his tastebuds for the first time. As he drank the tea, he forced his mind to be flooded with thoughts of Paul Prenter to bring down the arousal. Sure enough, thoughts of the disgusting fruit fly worked like a charm. Within seconds and his little friend was no longer causing any problems. What a relief! Roger didn’t want to have to deal with this particular issue the way he normally did in his own body. Meanwhile Brian’s parents had joined them on the couch enjoying their tea. Thankfully no one seemed to notice Roger’s little conundrum.

“Remember to call us at least once a week.” Mrs. May stressed. Mr. May nodded. “Yes, that is very important. We want to hear from you while you’re away. You nearly scared us to death on the last tour when you forgot to call.”

Since when were Brian’s parents so possessive? Roger only saw his family on the holidays, and he preferred to keep it that way so he could maintain his autonomy. He was a grown man for crying out loud! Maybe the Mays were so overprotective because Brian was an only child.

“And be sure to keep the boys out of trouble like you always do.” Mrs. May laughed, “Especially that Roger. He’s such a wild card.”

“Freddie gets into just as much mischief as I—Roger does!” Roger cleared his throat, hoping the slip up wasn’t apparent. “But yeah, I’ll watch out for him ‘cause that’s what friends do.”

“We raised you right.” Mr. May said, giving him a pat on the back.

“Erm, thanks, Dad.” Roger muttered. ‘ _You didn’t exactly raise me.’_  He thought. How could Brian’s own parents fail to recognize that something was amiss about their son?

“So what did Freddie want with you guys this morning?” Anita asked.

“Freddie? Oh yes. He just wanted us to run through the setlist one more time. Roger was messing up on  _Keep Yourself Alive_.” Roger said smoothly.

“Mmhm.” She seemed to buy it, “That drum solo is really something. I don’t know how he does it.”

“I don’t either. He’s just super talented.” It wasn’t bragging if no one knew you were referring to yourself.

“So are Freddie and John.” Anita agreed, “But I think I know who’s the most talented. It’s not like you see the other three charting stars and building their own instruments. I really lucked out to find someone as brilliant as you, Brian.”

‘ _I’m sorry, Brian.’_  Roger thought again before kissing Anita. He couldn’t help himself. She was so sweet, and Roger wanted to be that talented perfect person she saw him as. That was why he had made the wish to begin with. Even though he was living a lie, he reveled in his new identity in that brief moment. Wisher may have been right after all. He wanted this.

“Bri!” Anita pulled away, her cheeks flushed, “Don’t kiss me like that in front of your parents.”

“We’ll show ourselves out.” Mrs. May cleared her throat, “Don’t worry about it.” Mr. May had already left the room, no doubt wanting to excuse himself from the awkward scene Roger had created.

“No, you don’t have to leave.” Roger said even though he wanted them out to end the uneasiness their presence brought him. Brian was always so polite and suddenly Roger found himself taking on that characteristic. He was unable to speak his mind. No matter how much he wanted to kick the Mays out he couldn’t bring himself to do it for fear of hurting their feelings or offending them.

“Nonsense. You two probably want to have some time for yourselves before the hectic life on the road begins.” Mrs. May said as Roger follow her to the door where her husband was already waiting.

“Don’t be embarrassed.” Mr. May laughed, “We were young once too. You take care, son. Have fun on your tour!”

“Yes, dear, have fun.” Mrs. May said, hugging him again, “And please don’t forget to call us.”

“I won’t.” Roger assured her making a mental note to call at least once before the seven days were over.

“We love you.” She had to add only to tug at Roger’s heartstrings. They seriously had no idea that he wasn’t their son and it made him uncomfortable. “Um, love you too.”

When they were alone again, Anita decided to voice some of her concerns. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Brian? You’ve been acting so off, and that kiss was something else.”

Roger had been told he was a good kisser by many people, but he didn’t consider his technique until now. Was it noticeably different from Brian’s even though he was using the guitarist’s lips? “Did you like it?” Roger found himself asking curiously. “Not in front of your parents.” Anita frowned, “How could you do that? You really embarrassed me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” It usually took more prodding to get Roger to apologize, but the remorse came out naturally.

“That’s alright.” Anita sighed, “Let’s double check that we’re all packed.”

It didn’t surprise Roger that Brian’s suitcase was so neatly organized with everything in its proper place and the clothes even color coordinated. He likely had this task completed weeks in advance whereas Roger would procrastinate until the very last minute.

“Of course he has a physics book packed.” Roger laughed as he picked up the textbook that stuck out among the clothes. Only when he picked it up, he discovered that it was a facade. It wasn’t a book at all; it was only a box made to resemble a book. Inside the sneaky box there was a letter along with a smaller container that no doubt contained a ring. Roger examined the letter and recognized Brian’s handwriting.

_Brian,_

_I’m writing this now, so you’ll read it later when the time is right. Don’t back out! I know you’re probably mulling over the many ways this could go wrong, but you’ve already made up and your mind and you’re torturing yourself the way you always do. The proposal will go great, and Anita makes you so very happy as you already know. For once in your life be spontaneous and act out of passion instead of reason like Roger would. In this case, it won’t go wrong. I promise. Would I ever lie to you?_

_-Bri_

“He really did want to be like me.” Roger sighed as he folded the letter and put it back. Unable to resist himself, he opened up the smaller box to peek at the ring. It was a beautiful rounded diamond, but what was even more eye catching was the engraving on the inside of the band.  _‘My dearest Anita, the sweetest sight ever seen’_ “Oh, Brian! Why are you doubting yourself? She’ll love this.” He exclaimed as if Brian were in the room with him.

Hearing Anita return to the room, Roger quickly fumbled to hide the ring in the fake textbook and put it back in the suitcase in time. “I’m all packed and ready to go!” He announced finding no trouble zipping it up. 


	6. Mr. Fahrenheit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian helps Roger through a breakdown on the plane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I’m halfway through the hell known as finals week! I’m not too concerned about my last two exams as I have a good grasp on the material. I am just super happy that I’m officially done with the most difficult course of my undergraduate career! Now whether or not I passed is a different story…I’m waiting for my exam results with crossed fingers.
> 
> Anyway, here is the next chapter! I’m not going to give an official trigger warning, but there is a fairly emotional scene in this chapter, so be ready for that. Let me know what you think and as always thank you so much for reading!!!

Roger always hated flying. There was something about the tight space combined with being propelled into the air that bothered him. He would often joke that Brian was the astrophysicists who lacked the guts to become an astronaut, but the truth was he himself probably wouldn’t fare very well up in space. Even when Queen’s fame rose and the band was able to acquire a luxurious private jet to travel, the thought of flying still made him queasy. Now Roger realized that even in the finest of planes, Brian had barely any legroom. Squeezing himself into the seat next to Anita, Roger felt the same way he would when flying in coach on a commercial airline. He could only imagine Brian’s long legs in that situation. “This is going to be a long flight.” He sighed to himself.

Still not used to seeing himself in any form other than a mirror or one of Freddie’s portraits, Roger did a double take as he spotted Brian step onto the plane dragging his suitcase behind him. ‘ _Am I really that short?’_  Roger asked himself. He shook his head. From Brian’s freakishly tall perspective everyone was short.

“Is it just me or has the jet gotten more spacious?” Brian noted as he sat down in the aisle across from Roger.

“I’m sure it’s just you.” Roger muttered glancing over at him enviously.

The Deacons were the next to arrive. Veronica was cradling Michael and holding Laura’s hand. John was attempting to hold Robert’s hand while simultaneously lugging their suitcases behind him. Roger didn’t think twice about getting up to help them heave the luggage into the overhead and settle the kids down into their seats. It was only when he returned to his own seat that he noticed Brian giving him a funny look.

“What?”

“Nothing.” he shrugged, “Helping them get settled is just like something you’d do without being prompted.”

Roger paused to think about Brian’s implications. He hadn’t asked “what’s in it for me”, he simply saw Deaky and his family in need of assistance and offered it. In other words, he was acting selflessly like Brian would…And overanalyzing the action like this was something he’d do as well.

“We need to talk.” Roger said, gesturing to the back row of the plane.

“Are you two in a fight again?” Anita assumed.

“I’m sure they’ll settle it.” John said as he buckled Robert’s seatbelt, “Nothing to worry about. Right guys?”

“Everything is fine.” Brian said, “Let’s go sort this out.”

Away from the prying eyes of the others, Brian and Roger sat down in the back of the plane. “Bri, I’m scared.” Roger hissed, “This whole thing is fucked up! I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“Just get through this flight, okay? By the time we land, it’ll be day 2 already. You’ll be fine.” Brian spoke softly to calm him down and not warrant any attention.

“How do you know that?” Roger cried.

“Because you’re not going through this alone.”

“Uncle Roger, the bag is moving!” Robert had somehow managed to wiggle out of his seatbelt and Deaky wasn’t quick enough to stop him from wandering over to Roger’s suitcase.

“Fuck!” Brian shouted, surprising himself at how he cursed so readily in the presence of children. 

Wisher popped out of the suitcase, surprising nearly everyone except for Brian who had known of the wizard’s whereabouts. “Bunny!” Robert cooed. When he reached out to touch the creature, Wisher snapped at him making him run back to Veronica in fear. “Mommy,” he cried, “Bunny is mean!”

“Deaky, is this your wizard?” Ronnie exclaimed staring down at Wisher in wonder, “The one you told me you couldn’t tell me about.”

“Yes.” Deaky said, “Everyone this is my friend Wisher. He’s a wizard who needs our help to find him a new magical spot to build his wishing well. Now, Robert, you have to be polite and not touch him without permission. You don’t like it when someone pokes at you, right?”

The six year shook his head. “Sorry, Wisher.” (Sorry Wisher). “That is alright, little one.” Wisher replied, “And please call me Mr. Wizard. It’s not proper to address elders by their first name.” Robert giggled. “I’m not little, you’re little!”

As Wisher introduced himself to Mrs. Deacon and Ms. Dobson as Mr. Wizard, Roger confronted Brian demanding to know why the wizard was in his suitcase

“What the hell, Brian?” Roger whispered, “Did you just stuff Wisher into my suitcase? He could’ve suffocated!”

“I didn’t zip it all the way so he could breathe.” Brian replied flippantly.

“When did you start acting like me?” Roger gasped in realization. Putting Wisher in the suitcase without considering the consequences was such a Roger thing to do. It scared him that Brian hadn’t taken Wisher’s comfort and safety into account as he was always so gentle and caring with all people and animals. What did this mean for when they got their bodies back? If Brian was becoming Roger and Roger was becoming Brian, would they even still be themselves when they returned to normal?

“You’re stuck in your own head aren’t you?” Brian noted, “I know the look. I’ve been there more times than you can imagine.” Strangely enough, Brian had been going with the flow. Since the cupboard incident, he wasn’t thinking about much at all aside from things that were happening in the moment. It would be easy to tell Roger to just let it go now that he was in this new headspace, but he knew what it was like to be bogged down with all these whirling thoughts.

“Mommy, when is the plane going to start?” Robert asked anxiously.

“We can’t leave until Uncle Freddie and Uncle Jim get here.” Veronica replied.

“Just be patient.” Deaky said, “Do you want to color with Laura? Ronnie, sweetheart, can you get the crayons for him?”

“Of course Freddie is late again!” Brian cried, “At this rate, we might as well drive and we’d still get there sooner.”

“Drive over the ocean?” Roger laughed, “Good luck with that.”

“You two are doing amazing!” Deaky proclaimed, “You sound just like each other.” He was completely unaware that they weren’t even trying to mimic each other.

“What are you talking about?” Anita asked, glancing back at Brian and Roger. “What aren’t you telling me?” Her eyes narrowed at Roger, and he felt himself panicking. Was he going to lose Anita and go into a downward spiral like he had after losing Chrissie? Shit! What was Roger even talking about? Anita and Chrissie weren’t his to lose.

Thankfully, Freddie finally arrived to diffuse the tension. He strut onto the plane with Jim trailing him like a lost puppy. Poor Miami was behind them hauling their luggage. Roger made a mental note to have a discussion with the boys to increase Miami’s paycheck. Of course, Brian was usually the one who initiated those types of meetings.

“Okay, my darlings, the fun can commence because I’m here now!” Freddie announced. That roughly translated to: I’m sorry I’m late again.

The frontman stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Wisher perched on one of the aisle seats. A sparkle lit up Freddie’s exotic dark eyes as he grinned widely not afraid to show off his notorious teeth. “It’s you!” Without warning Freddie picked Wisher up and twirled him in the air. It was a display of affection he frequently did with his cats.

“Mr. Mercury, you put me down this instant!” Wisher scolded.

“I’m sorry, my dear.” Freddie gently placed Wisher down, but he couldn’t resist pinching his cute chubby cheek, “It’s just that I’m so happy to see you, and I owe you so much.”

“I expected this kind of behavior from the children, but not from you, Mr. Mercury. I am not one of your cats!”

“If he treats like you a cat, it means that he likes you.” Deaky joked only Wisher was not amused.

Unfortunately, Freddie didn’t pick up on the wizard’s sour mood. “I don’t just like my cats, I love them! So, yes, I do love you, too, my darling. No offense to the rest of you motherfuckers but this wizard is officially my favorite person on this plane.”

“Freddie!” Veronica exclaimed in outrage, gesturing to Laura and Robert, “At least give me a heads up so I can cover their ears.” Thankfully Michael was asleep on her lap and hadn’t heard Freddie’s profanity.

Laura held up her paper filled with crayon scribbles and showed it to Freddie. It was not bad for a three year old. For the sake of pleasing Veronica and not making the toddler cry, Freddie gasped in astonishment like he was looking at a great work of art worthy of being in a museum. “Oh darling that is absolutely beautiful! You are such a good artist.” Laura giggled in response.

“I am surprised you did not wish for biological children of your own, Mr. Mercury.” Wisher remarked, “You are quite good with them.”

“I did wish for children. They’re furry and four legged, but they’re children regardless.” Freddie reasoned, “And they may not be biological mine, but they still belong to me.”

“You wished for more cats?” Roger blurted, “Why am I not surprised!”

“And I bet you wished for a new telescope. I’m sure we’re happy with our wishes, but that doesn’t mean we don’t regret wishing for something else instead.” Freddie turned around to give Jim a peck on the lips. He flashed him a serious look that seemed to say, ‘ _I know you saved me and all you got in return was more cats.’_

“I love you, Freddie.” Jim whispered.

“And I don’t deserve you.” He cleared his throat, noticing the others watching their intimate moment. Freddie shuffled awkwardly to his seat.

“I really could’ve used a new telescope.” Brian said under his breath. Why didn’t he just make his life a lot easier and wish for that?

“So, Miami, are you excited to be returning to your homeland?” Freddie asked.

“For the last time, I’m not from Miami. I’ve actually never been there before, but I’m looking forward to the weather.”

“When we show up, it’s bound to get a lot hotter!” Freddie declared.

“I find that hard to believe, Mr. Mercury.” Wisher said, “It is currently 92 degrees Fahrenheit in Miami, Florida.”

“Well you can call me Mr. Fahrenheit.”

“I am going to call you Mr. Mercury or Mr. Bulsara, whichever you are more comfortable with.” Wisher countered.

“Why are you so formal, darling? Everyone just calls me Freddie.”

“I am only on a first name basis with my friends.” Wisher stated, “Deaky and Jim are currently my only friends on this plane.”

“Well you ain’t no friend of mine either.” Brian scoffed making Roger gasp. That sharp tone was one used frequently in Roger’s voice, but it still off-putting to hear it coming from Brian who was usually so kind. Roger was really beginning to fear that they were both losing themselves. He was also convinced that he was going to die of a heatstroke when they landed in Miami unless he managed to tie Brian’s curls back into a man bun or something. How would Brian react to a change in style? Why was he even thinking about this? Roger never thought about the opinions of others, he just did what he wanted.

“I only befriend people who are of the purest of heart.” Wisher explained, “The quickest way for me to determine a pure heart is through a wish. Jim and Deaky proved themselves through theirs. Do not worry though. There are other ways you can still prove yourselves pure of heart, and then you shall become my friends.”

“And do friends get to undo their wishes?” Brian wondered.

“Perhaps if the friend is worthy enough.” Wisher replied.

“And do friends get additional wishes?” Freddie asked.

“No, Mr. Mercury, not even friends are rewarded that luxury.”

“Your rules are dumb!” Roger complained.

“But  _Brian,_ ” Deaky said sharply, “you always encourage us to stay in line and follow the rules, remember?”

“Well it’s only logical to conclude that somerules are meant to be broken.” Roger grinned when he realized that he had finally found the perfect balance between himself and Brian with that statement. If only he could keep it that way and not slip further into this abyss of worries and fears.

As the plane took off, Brian busied himself glossing through a magazine purposefully reading slowly so it would last longer. Only he found it hard to focus on the words. His eyes would glance to the pictures every so often, and when they returned to the letters, he’d grow bored. In fact he was so bored that he could barely sit still. He mimed the drum solo to Keep Yourself Alive, not even worried about messing it up at this point. He just needed something to do to entertain himself and the dull words on the paper just weren’t working. Staring at them made his eyelids grow heavy. Eventually he removed his glasses and fell into a deep sleep. It was probably the most peaceful sleep he had in years. He felt completely refreshed even if he was woken up rather abruptly.

“Bri!” Roger was shaking his shoulder forcefully. Brian blinked, and rubbed his eyes, unnerved by the blurry image of his own face staring back at him. He put the glasses back on as he became more aware. The cabin lights were turned off and everyone was asleep including the children and Wisher.

“Roger what’s wrong?” Brian whispered.

“I couldn’t sleep. I just keep thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong, and it just seems to get progressively worse the more I try to push it down.”

Man, did that sound familiar! Brian couldn’t offer Roger any advice for he had no solutions. He had been on antidepressants in the past, but he didn’t care for the side effects. “I’ll stay up with you. It gets better if you talk it out with someone. The thoughts are daunting, but you aren’t alone. We can tackle them together.”

“You aren’t mad that I woke you up?”

“Not at all.” Brian assured him, “Was that one of your fears? Were you scared that I’d lash out at you if you woke me looking for help?”

“How’d you know?” Roger gasped.

“Because I know myself.” he said, “But I’m glad you woke me, Roger. I don’t want you dealing with this by yourself. I’m used to it. You’re not.”

“How do you deal with this every night, Bri? I just feel so…overwhelmed.” Roger bit down on his lip, his voice crackling.

“Like I said. I’m used to it. Now the trick is to either talk it out with someone or try to find something else to focus on.” Brian handed him the discarded magazine, “I usually read things more thought provoking than this, but it could do the trick to take your mind off of the anxieties. Do you want to try that or do you want to talk?”

Roger’s eyes were watering with tears. “H-how are you so…patient?” he choked, “Bri, I’m scared that you’re going to snap and be like me and I’ll lose you. Then I’ll have to be you…and I-I can’t—“

“—Shh. Shh. Roggie, it’s alright.” Brian gave him a consoling hug, “I’m still me. I’m still here just like you are.”

“You say that now, but I see you slipping away and soon you won’t be my sweet and generous best friend that I know and love. You’ll be temperamental and difficult and just like me. That means I’ll have to fill the void and be you, but I can’t live up to that expectation. Oh my God! Did you just roll your eyes at me? You are becoming me, Brian!”

“I didn’t…well maybe I did,” Brian realized, “but it’s because you’re being ridiculous. Wisher wants us on a path of self discovery. I appreciate that you think so highly of me, Rog, but I think you need to do some reflecting on yourself. You’re not the moody bitch you think you are. You’re funny and spontaneous and you make everyone around you so happy with your passion for life. I haven’t even been you for a full day yet and I already feel so much lighter and more free like there are absolutely no troubles in my way. We need more people in this world who are as invincible as you, Roger. Nothing seems to get you down. Now try to think through the fog, okay? Let’s practice some deep breathing. It helps when the negative thoughts seem to overcome everything else.”

Roger steadily breathed alongside Brian slowly feeling himself let go of any unwanted thoughts, but they weren’t completely gone, and he had a feeling they never would be. “Are you feeling any better?” Brian asked. Roger nodded. “A little. Thanks, Brian!”

Brian allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkened cabin. Then he looked down at his watch. He really did fall into a deep sleep that lasted for many hours. They would be landing very soon. Poor Roger must have been up tossing and turning this entire time with those restless thoughts. Although there was no promise of cheering himself up when he was in one of his funks, Brian still attempted to comfort Roger. One thing in particular stood out to him that could help. “Good news, Roger! We made it to day 2.”

“Only 5 more days of hell…if we manage to pull this off. Otherwise, this will last forever.” Roger sighed glumly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re in Day 2! I just realized how long this story is going to be if we’re only at Day 2. I think it’s realistic to drag out each day as Brian and Roger are really struggling so the days seem much longer to them especially for poor Roger who has Brian’s insomnia. In the next chapter, the boys arrive in Miami and the adventure continues. Stay tuned!


	7. “Sue the Management!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humidity is not kind to Brian’s hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm off from school! Unfortunately, my summer classes literally start Monday, but the load is a lot lighter, so I'll still have plenty of time to write. Anyway this is chapter is mostly about Brian's hair because why not? It's something Roger has to adjust to thus it's relevant to the plot.

 

  
Roger stood in front the mirror wincing as he brushed through his thick curls which had frizzed up due to the intense humidity. He and Brian were currently hiding in their hotel room in an attempt to avoid the swarm of fans and press members residing in the lobby. They somehow managed to smuggle Wisher upstairs with them as well without catching any unwanted attention. The wizard was resting on a couch cushion, snoring loudly.

"Not only do I have to be you, but I have to be you on a bad hair day." Roger enviously glared back Brian who had nothing to worry about with his manageable short blonde hair.

"It's...not that bad." Brian lied, but he wasn't fooling Roger. Brian's hair had never looked worse and he was grateful that he didn't have to be the one dealing with it this time.

"And you're sure you didn't pack any hair products?" Roger sighed glancing back at the unzipped suitcase that was so neatly organized. How could Brian not have any styling creams or defrizzers? His hair needed more tending than any of the other band members. Brian shrugged. "I usually just borrow products from you or Freddie."

"Well you packed for me." Roger pointed out, "And you forgot to include any of my dyes or hair products because you were too busy fooling around in the cupboard!"

"It's not my fault that you waited until the very last minute to pack. It's your brain that distracted me anyway. I can't seem to stay focused on anything anymore."

"Well at least you're not boggled down by every little concerning thought! I'd kill to have my mind wander again, but it just seems to stay stuck in one place."

Before tensions escalated any further, there was a knock at the door. Roger went to answer it, but Brian stopped him. The last thing they needed was the paparazzi bursting in to take pictures of Brian's unflattering hair and spotting Wisher. "Who is it?" he called, in an attempt to disguise his voice by deepening it.

"It's me, darlings. Let me in please."

As soon as Roger opened the door, Freddie waltzed into the room, dramatically flinging himself atop the bed. "I'm staying in this room." He declared, clapping his hands, "You two get out!"

"What the fuck, Fred?" Roger cried.

"I can't go back to my room. The lighting is awful. I prefer this room. Roger, you go stay in my dreadfully lit room with Jim, and Brian, dear, I don't even know why you're here. You have a room with Anita."

"This is about Jim." Roger realized, "You would never have me—I mean Roger—stay with Jim. You'd have Jim staying in the better room with you."

"Why do you always have to be so intuitive all the time, Bri?" Freddie sighed and Roger couldn't help but feel proud of himself. His old brain never would have been able to pick up on what was troubling Freddie.

"I thought you worshipped Jim after his wish. Things between the two of you were never better." Brian said, "What happened?"

"This happened." Freddie retrieved a letter from his jacket's inner pocket. "It got mixed into my fan mail somehow." He tossed the letter across the room allowing Brian and Roger to read it.

'Dear Freddie,

    I know you've been avoiding all contact with me ever since we broke up, but I hope this letter reaches you in good health. I'm going to be blunt about this. I've contracted the virus, and I don't have much time left. I want to see you again before I die to make amends. I know you're touring in North America. Name the time and place and I'll make arrangements. I need closure, and I think you deserve some as well. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

With love,

Paul'

Wisher sputtered awake as Brian and Roger both gasped. "Ever since you broke up? More like ever since he fucked you over!" Roger cried.

"Language, Mr. May!" Wisher scolded, but Roger just rolled his eyes. He was shifting into Brian's headspace but certain things like his hatred of Paul brought him back to himself. Even the real Brian who couldn't hold a grudge if his life depended on it harbored a deep dislike toward Paul after he manipulated and blackmailed poor Freddie nearly breaking up the band in the process. Now when combined with Roger's temper, Brian was unable to think clearly about the letter. "Burn it." Was his only response, "We saw your life turn to shit, Freddie. We're not letting that happen again. Don't let him back in your life. Burn that letter and forget you ever saw it."

"Jim had a similar reaction," Freddie remarked, "but I think Trixie deserves a second chance."

"Fuck! Are you seriously back to using that nickname?" Roger cried, "What the hell, Freddie? He blackmailed you and sold you out and tried to break up the band so he could have you all to himself."

"I know all that, darling, you don't have to remind me, and it's obviously very serious if you're using that sharp tone with me." Freddie recognized, "But I should be in the same position as Paul right now. I was supposed to be diagnosed as well. I'm not dying because I was given a second chance, and not everyone is that lucky. If it gives Paul the closure he needs, then I can forgive him."

"He doesn't deserve to be forgiven." Brian exclaimed. Usually he was very forgiving, but this was a special circumstance and it may or may not have to do with Roger's brain influencing his own.

"He doesn't deserve to die of AIDs." Freddie choked, "The least I can do is forgive him before it's too late, and offering him my forgiveness is my decision to make, not yours. If you're going to yell at me like Jim did then I'll go stay in Deaky's room."

"Deaky will also call you out for this." Brian reasoned, "He hates Prenter just as much as we do."

"You should listen to us." Roger insisted, "It's not worth getting in a fight with Jim after he saved you."

"Jim and I are not in a fight. We just aren't on speaking terms at the moment." Freddie casually lit a cigarette, clearly not giving a damn that the hotel adhered to a strict no smoking policy. He offered one to Brian. Forgetting that Roger also fancied cigarettes, Brian exclaimed, "Freddie, you know I don't smoke!" Although the smell of the nicotine was suddenly very tempting.

"You don't smoke?" Freddie laughed, "Rog, you smoke more than I do. What's wrong with you?Take the bloody cigarette."

"This is peer pressure and you know it." Brian accepted the drug but only for the sake of appearances. He coughed and sputtered slightly, but it thankfully wasn't as embarrassing as the first time Freddie and Roger had dared him to try a smoke years ago.

"Darling, what has gotten into you?" Freddie proclaimed, "It's like you've never smoked before and we both know that's not true."

"It's got to be the nerves of smoking in a non-smoking hotel." Roger leapt to Brian's defense, "You don't want to get caught breaking the rules, right Rog?" Wait. That didn't sound right either. Roger didn't give two shits about the rules. He just did what he wanted when he wanted.

"You two sure are acting strange." Freddie noted, "Is the humidity getting to you or something? Because let me tell you it is really fucking hot outside even for Mr. Farenheit's standards. I mean look at your hair, Bri. It's a bloody disaster!"

"I don't have any hair products and Roger forgot to pack his." Roger responded, glaring at Brian.

"If I wasn't avoiding Jim right now, I'd go back to my room to bring you some of my products for you to borrow like usual." Freddie replied, "There's a spa and beauty boutique downstairs. We can go there and have professionals treat your hair. Besides, I could use a pedicure."

Roger was of course all on board with taming the curls he was forced to deal with, but Brian was horrified. What if they tried to straighten his hair or worse cut it short? He couldn't say anything because it would be awkward coming out of Roger's mouth. Why would Roger be concerned about the status of Brian's hair?

"Nothing too drastic, I promise." Freddie said, "We'll just have them use some creams to get rid of the frizz and leave the curls intact. I think it will be fun, and I need to take my mind off things."

"Sounds good to me." Roger said and Brian felt like slapping him for agreeing. He remained quiet as the two got up and headed toward the door.

Before they could leave, Wisher hopped down off the couch. "If you do not mind, can I come with you gentlemen? In order to keep up my strength, I need to burrow myself somewhere like a wishing well. I believe a sink in a beauty boutique would work."

"What if people see you?" Roger wondered.

"Freddie can hide me in a laundry bag." Wisher decided.

"Did you just call me Freddie?" he gasped, "Does this mean we're friends, darling?"

"It does." Wisher confirmed, "You are willing to forgive someone who has wronged you. That proves you are pure of heart."

"It's not that he's willing to forgive. It's that he's willing to forgive Paul. He's a snake and we all know it." Roger scoffed.

"Say what you want, but I'm friends with Wisher and you aren't!" Freddie bragged as he retrieved a laundry bag to conceal the wizard. "We'll be back soon, Roger, dear. Brian will look fabulous when we're done."

"I can only pray." Brian said under his breath.

Thankfully, the crowd in the lobby had died down, so Freddie and Roger had no problem getting to the spa without drawing any attention to themselves.

"Noooo!" Freddie dramatically wailed when he saw the sign saying that the resort's spa and beauty boutique were temporarily closed for refurbishment. "Sue the management!"

Roger noticed the girl stationed behind the desk despite the spa's closure. He usually managed to flirt to get what he wanted. Being Brian shouldn't limit him in that respect. "I'll get us an appointment. Leave it to me, Fred." He strode up to the desk.

"Hi." The girl said, "Can I help you?"

"Hello there." He flashed her a smile, "We traveled all the way from London just to be here."

"Are you sure you're not from Britain?" The girl asked cluelessly, "You sound like you have a British accent."

"London is in Great Britain." Roger clarified, "Anyway, we've travelled all this way and—"

"—Then where's England?" She blurted, scratching her head in confusion.

"Darling, we just want a bloody boutique appointment!" Freddie interjected.

"Oh no sorry." She said, "We're closed. You'll have to come back next week when the refurbishment is finished."

"Did no one get the memo that Queen would be here?" The singer exclaimed, "How could you be closed?"

The girl frowned. "You Brits are so silly. We don't have a Queen. And why would the Queen of America want to come here?"

"Not the Queen! Queen, the rock band." Freddie clarified, "Perhaps you've heard of us?"

"Oh yeah. My uncle did say a famous rock band was staying here this weekend. He said that even though I'm his niece, he'd fire me if I treated them disrespectfully. Honestly, I wish it were Madonna coming instead. She's so much cooler than those old rockers who are still stuck in the 70s. Like wake up it's almost 1987!"

"We upstaged Madonna at Live Aid!" Roger shouted.

"Live Aid?" The girl rolled her eyes, "That is so last year. Everyone stopped talking about that months ago. I doubt anyone will remember it by the end of the decade. Anyway, my uncle is into that old school stuff like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, but I don't get what all the hype is about. He was super excited about the rock band staying at his resort so I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for them so I don't screw up and get fired for mistreating them. The singer had a funny name. Freddie...I think it was a planet. Freddie Jupiter?"

"You deserve to be fired, darling." Freddie said bluntly, "Now please tell us if there are any beauty boutiques nearby because we will not be spending our money here."

"Not that I know of." The girl said, "But there is a Publix down the street."

"What the bloody hell is a Publix?" Roger cried.

The girl gasped. "You've never heard of Publix?"

"Well you've never heard of Queen!" Freddie exclaimed.

"It's a grocery store chain. You should go check it out. They have really good subs...but you probably call them hoagies or something." She said.

"You have been most unhelpful, my dear." Freddie muttered as he walked out alongside Roger. He paused at the doorway to say one last thing. "If Freddie Jupiter happens to drop by, tell him I said hello. I know him very well. He's a good friend of mine."

"We're going to tell management about her and make sure her uncle fires her, right?" Roger confirmed once they were out of earshot.

"Obviously." Freddie replied, "Maybe Jim finally left the room and I can go retrieve my hair products."

Still hiding Wisher in the laundry bag, they made their way to the elevator, but stopped when they spotted a familiar figure sitting in the lobby. He was much skinnier and paler than usual, but it only took one look into those devil eyes for Roger to decide that even with a deadly disease, this man was unworthy of redemption. It was none other than Paul Prenter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNN! The snake has arrived! Stay tuned to see how he'll figure into all of this madness.
> 
> Side note: for those of you who haven't been to the southeast United States, you've been missing out on this Florida based staple grocery chain. Here's a Buzzfeed article explaining why Publix is amazing!  
> https://www.buzzfeed.com/delaneystrunk/publix-rocks-and-you-know-it-keith


	8. When This is Blown Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie forgives Paul even though he doesn't deserve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I am on a roll! This chapter will sort out the plot hole about Brian/Roger not going to Jim to fix his hair because Jim’s a professional. No, I totally did not forget that Jim was a hairdresser. My original intention was to address it like this *wink* *wink*.

“Paul?” Freddie gasped, “What are you doing here, darling?”

He coughed, “You look good, Freddie.”

“I always look good, darling.” He replied and took a seat beside the old friend, “I um got your letter. I’m so sorry to hear that…you know.”

When Freddie took his hand in his to show his support, Roger thought he might just gag. Paul was using the disease to his advantage to get Freddie to sympathize with him.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Roger scoffed, waiting for Paul’s half assed apology for saying all those horrible things to the press and manipulating Freddie.

“To Freddie. I’ve got nothing to say to you, curly.” Paul said crudely.

“You haven’t changed.” Roger shook his head in disgust, “Freddie, come on. Let’s go.”

“Give us a minute, dear.” Freddie told him.

“You heard the man,” Paul smirked, “Give us some privacy.”

“No way!” Roger shouted, “I’m not leaving you here with him.”

“Darling, don’t cause a scene.”

“Fuck you!”

Roger knew he needed backup. He rushed back upstairs to go get Brian and Deaky. They’d talk some sense into Freddie. As the elevator door shut, Roger heard Freddie say, “Don’t mind Brian, dear. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him. I think Roger and I are rubbing off on him.”

Meanwhile, Brian was upstairs unaware of the drama ensuing several floors below him. The hotel was quite accommodating and had several magazines and books stacked in a shelf for guests to read, including  _Science Daily._ Brian was trying to read an article, but he was having trouble focusing and the words weren’t making much sense. “Come on, Bri! You’ve got this. It’s an article on space dust. You love space dust!” He gave himself a pep talk. ‘ _I wonder if cosmic dust can float as fast a sports car.’_ The thought came out of nowhere, but somehow he caught himself fantasizing about fast cars instead of the words on the paper. “Are you kidding me!” He cried when he caught himself getting distracted again.

There was a knock on the door. How strange! It was too early for Freddie and Roger to be back. Forgetting his own concerns about the paparazzi, he opened the door without asking who it was. Fortunately, it was only Anita. “Hey, Roger, do you know where Brian is?”

“Um yes.” Brian tried to seem not caught off guard by her calling him Roger, “He went with Freddie to do something about his hair.”

“And you let him go!” She laughed, “Oh poor, Bri. I hope his hair survives.”

“I do too more than you know.” he muttered.

“What are you reading?” Anita picked up the copy of  _Science Daily_  noting the page Brian had marked. “I can never understand this stuff. Thankfully I have Brian. He knows everything there is to know about space dust.”

‘ _And apparently now cars.’_  Brian thought to himself.

“I don’t know what’s going on. Brian’s been dropping F bombs right and left and now you’re here calmly reading  _Science Daily._ ” Anita remarked, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two switched places.”

“What?” Brian forced a laugh, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“We did meet a real wizard so anything’s possible. Where is Wisher by the way? I thought he was with you.”

“He’s with Brian and Freddie. They carried him out in a laundry bag. I thought it was a bad idea, but they brought him along anyway.”

Suddenly, someone began knocking on the door violently. “Open up. It’s an emergency! Come on! Br—“ Brian opened the door before Roger could say Brian’s name in his voice and make Anita even more suspicious.

“Bri, what’s the matter!” Anita cried.

“Paul’s here. Freddie is downstairs talking to him and I don’t trust him even if he is dying of AIDs.” Roger said all in one breath.

“Anita, we need to handle this.” Brian said. He hesitated before saying, “And then you can have Brian to yourself.”

“I understand.” She said, looking at Roger, “We first met around the time that Paul was stealing Freddie away from the band, so I know firsthand how dangerous and manipulative he can be.”

Roger was surprised when a new array of memories flashed through his head. He cupped Anita’s cheek smiling down at her softly. “When I was at my all time low because I thought I was losing the band because of Paul and my ex left me as well, you helped me get through it. I can’t thank you enough, love.”

‘ _What the hell?’_ Brian thought to himself. Roger was playing the role a little too well and he didn’t appreciate it. Anita was  _his_  girlfriend. She helped him through the tough times and the aftermath of Paul’s horrible interview, not Roger, but him. His hands automatically balled into fists, but even with Roger’s inclination towards violence, Brian didn’t want to hurt his best friend or his girlfriend. It was neither of their faults that they were launched into this situation.

“You can be lovey-dovey later. Let’s go save Freddie from the snake!” He garnered Roger’s attention away from Anita.

“When this is blown over, we’ll go out to lunch together.” Anita told him.

“Of course.” Roger replied, “I’d love that.”

Brian literally had to drag Roger away as he leaned down to kiss her. This was getting too much. He’d have a talk with the drummer later, but for now they needed to deal with Prenter.

“Let’s go get Deaky as this is more of a band emergency and I think the three of us together will really help Freddie return to his senses and scare off Paul. We can be quite intimidating if we try.” Roger said, unaware that his growing feelings toward Anita were upsetting Brian.

As if to contradict that statement, they found Deaky in his room doing the least intimidating thing in the world: Reading a storybook to his children. “I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I am…”

“No shit. You prefer cheese on toast over green eggs and ham.” Roger said, thankfully not loud enough for the kids to hear. Brian elbowed him.

John looked up from the book and so did the kids. “Uncle Roger! Uncle Brian! Did you come to hear the story?” Robert asked, “Sam I am likes green eggs and ham but his friend is like you, Uncle Roger, and tells him to fuck off!”

“Robert!” Ronnie cried.

“Fuck off.” Laura repeated with a giggle much to Deaky and Ronnie’s dismay. Fortunately, Michael kept his pacifier in his mouth and remained quiet.

“Deaks, we need you.” Brian said, “Paul is downstairs with Freddie.”

“I thought Freddie cut all contact with that snake.” John groaned, “Alright, kiddies, Mommy’s gonna continue the story. I’ll be right back. No more bad words, alright? You don’t want me to force you to eat green eggs and ham like Sam I am.”

“Yes Daddy. I’ll be good.” Robert replied.

“They grow up so fast.” Deaky sighed as the trio headed downstairs.

Back downstairs, Freddie was having his conversation with Paul. “How did you know the band would be staying here?” he asked.

“I made some phone calls.” Paul replied vaguely, “I’m surprised you weren’t staying at the Ritz. This place is only 4 stars, Freddie, not even 5 stars. How can you stand something so below your standards?”

“Believe me I wanted to stay at the Ritz, but Reid and Miami agreed that it wasn’t wise to stay at a hotel two hours away from the stadium. If we get stuck in traffic, we could miss our own concert!”

“If I were still your manager, you’d only be staying in the finest of resorts.”

“If you were still my manager, there wouldn’t be a band.” Freddie said bluntly, “I’m here to offer my forgiveness and give you the closure you need, but I don’t want to waste my time with talk of what could have been because you did what you did and there is no going back. All I want to do is move forward.”

Paul coughed again. “If I had known that Live Aid would be that big of a concert, I would have let you know about it before your  _girlfriend_  decided it was her business.” He glanced down at the wedding band on Freddie’s finger. “I see you’re happy living a lie. Finally decided to tie the knot with that blue eyed floozy. Good for you! It’s only a matter of time until your house of cards collapses and you get sick like the rest of us.”

“Don’t call Mary a blue eyed floozy! She’s one of my dearest friends, but no, this ring isn’t for her.” Freddie scoffed, “If you really came here seeking redemption, Paul, you wouldn’t wish your fate on me. I’m sorry this had to happen to you. I really am. It’s terrifying and disgusting and absolutely no one deserves it. That is the only reason why I’m here giving you the time of day because you’re going through hell and I want you to have closure.”

“How are you not sick, Freddie? We went to those clubs together. We shared the same lovers. I don’t understand why you were spared and I wasn’t.”

“It’s not fair.” Freddie agreed knowing very well that he had cheated death thanks to Wisher, “But this is the way it is and we just have to make the most of the time we have left.”

“So if not Mary, then who is your new beard? Who’s the ring for?”

“First of all, Mary was never a beard. I loved her. I still love her. You know I’ve been out of the closet for years now and after your disgusting interview, I was dragged even further out, but again, I forgive you for all that because I need to move on. Jim is my husband now. You remember him, right? I told you I wanted to settle down with him, and you laughed in my face.”

“What do you mean he’s your husband? Are you delusional? There’s no way to get a legal marriage license.” Paul cried, “And even if were acceptable, you two would never last. I told you that he wasn’t right for you, Freddie.”

“It’s symbolic and not official but our friends and family recognize the marriage and you should too. Like I said, I’ve moved on, Paul. It’s time you move on as well. I’m so sorry you had to get sick. I pray for a cure, and if I had just one wish I wouldn’t waste it on more cats or something frivolous.” The laundry bag by his feet shifted slightly.

“What’s in there?” Paul demanded.

“M-my cats.” Freddie was quick on his feet, “I’m trying to sneak them into the hotel. No smoking and no animals allowed can you believe it!”

“If I had one wish…” Paul paused giving it a thought, then looking at Freddie with a twisted smile across his gaunt face, he said, “it’d be to make you mine. Tell Jim he’s a very lucky man.”

Again the laundry bag was moving as Wisher was scrambling about in there. Freddie shut his eyes.  _‘Please, Wisher, don’t grant him that wish.’_ He internally begged. Perhaps the wizard could read minds.

“Freddie!” He looked up to see his three bandmates walking toward him. Paul groaned as Brian Roger and Deaky got closer, but he disguised it as another cough.

“I wish you all the best.” Freddie said, abruptly rising to his feet, “I think my band needs me right now. Goodbye, Paul. I hope you’re able to forgive yourself and find redemption.”

He said nothing more, turning his back on the dying man. Freddie tried to shake the guilt as he went back upstairs with his band. He had done everything he could. Even with this second chance, Freddie couldn’t stop the disease from spreading.

“Are you okay?” Roger asked as they gathered into the elevator.

“I’m fine, dear.” Freddie lied, “I just need to see Jim.”

“We’ll take you to him.” Brian said.

“Is there anything else we can do to help?” Deaky asked.

Freddie shook his head. This was his guilt to live with. The others shouldn’t be plagued with it. They were meant to live long happy lives while Freddie was supposed to die young.

“Jim!” Freddie threw himself into his husband’s arms, “I’m so sorry.”

“No, Freddie. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You’re right. Everyone deserves forgiveness and second chances even Prenter.”

“We should probably leave you two alone.” Deaky said feeling like an intruder watching over the intimate moment.

“Yeah. I promised Anita I’d take her out to lunch.” Roger said making Brian cringe.

“You can’t go out on a date with hair like that, darling.” Freddie tsked, “And now that Jim and I are no longer in a fight, he can work on your hair. I know I introduced you to him as my gardener, but before that he was a hairdresser.”

“It’s true.” Jim said, “I can help you manage the frizz if you’d like. Freddie has lots of hair products I can use.”

“You’ve been keeping his former profession a secret so we wouldn’t take advantage.” Brian laughed. He felt more comfortable with Jim working with his hair than a stranger. Although part of him wished that Roger would just leave his hair frizzy. If he looked his best, he may charm Anita a little too much.

“Jim is the absolute best!” Freddie agreed, planting a kiss on his cheek, “He tends to  _all_  of my gardens if you know what I mean.”

Deaky went red as a tomato and Brian tried to keep a straight face knowing Roger would say much dirtier things. “Too much information, Freddie!” Deaky cried.

As Roger sat down to let Jim run his hands through his curls, he noticed something. The laundry bag was missing. “Freddie, where’s Wisher?”

“In the laundry bag….” Freddie looked around in a total panic, “Oh shit! I was so frazzled by Paul that I left him downstairs.”

“Fuck!” Brian and Roger shouted in unison.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. I wonder if Paul might look in that bag and discover Wisher…We’ll have to wait and find out. Thanks for reading and as always, I appreciate all the kudos and comments!!!


	9. Scandal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian loses his cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been working on my other two stories, but I'm sure you're all eager for this cliffhanger to be resolved. So without further ado, here is the next chapter!

Roger reached the lobby first deciding that the elevator would take too long and optioned for the stairs. He couldn't imagine Prenter stumbling upon Wisher and frankly he didn't want to know what kind of wish he would make. Paul was still sitting at the same table in the lobby, his skinny form hunched over as he coughed. Seeing him ill like this made Roger pause to consider his own guilty conscience. How could he be cruel to a dying man? Wouldn't holding this grudge make him just as bad as Paul? "Damn it, Brian! Get your fucking moral dilemmas out of my head!" Roger caught himself.

As the elevator doors opened and the other members of Queen poured out, Roger made a dash to Paul's table. He ignored Paul's questions and reached for the laundry bag by his feet, but it was empty. "What the hell did you do to Wisher, you little snake?" Roger shouted.

"It's been a while since I've worked with you." Paul responded, "But I remember Blondie having more of a temper. You were usually the level headed one."

"Answer the question!"

"Brian, darling," Freddie cried as he and others caught up to Roger, "what in the world has gotten into you?"

"He kidnapped Wisher!" Roger accused.

Brian rolled his eyes. "You're making yourself look bad, Bri." He said, hoping Roger would catch on, "Wisher would remind you that men of logic don't jump to conclusions without evidence."

"Are you saying I'm not logical?" Roger cried, "That's bullshit and you know it!" ' _Especially now that I'm you.'_ He thought.

"Both of you shut up!" Freddie shouted before calmly asking, "Paul, where's Wisher?"

"That weird doll thing in the laundry bag?" Paul shrugged, "A little girl seemed interested in it, so I let her take it. What good is a doll going to do for me?"

"Did you see which way the girl went?" John asked.

"She said she was going to the vending machine." Paul pointed in the direction.

Freddie was the only one to say goodbye to Paul before all four men bolted toward the vending machine. Sure enough there was a little girl in a pink dress and matching ballerina slippers who was holding a squirming Wisher like a teddy bear. Her parents were busy checking into the hotel leaving her to her own devices. However, they weren't the band's concern. The clicking of cameras as they walked by caught their attention instead. The paparazzi had found them again.

"How should we handle this?" Brian asked, "We don't want to cause a scene."

"Deaky, you're good with kids. You go ask her for Wisher back." Roger prompted.

"Whatever we do the media will spin this negatively." John muttered as he approached the child. She looked up at him quizzically and then back at his friends. "You're the famous people. I saw you on the TV."

"That's right." Deaky said, "We're part of a band. Do you like music?"

"I like chocolate." She replied pointing up at the vending machine.

"I like chocolate too." John laughed, "Say, that's a neat little toy you have there. Mind if I have a look at him?"

"No!" The girl pouted, "I found him. He's mine! The ugly man said I could keep him."

Roger snickered when she referred to Paul as the ugly man but then remembered he was laughing at a dying man's expense.

"I'll buy you a chocolate bar if you let me have a look at him." John negotiated. Then he glanced back at the clicking cameras becoming aware of their assumptions. Offering a little girl chocolate as a grown man did not necessarily shed him in the best light. "I swear I'm not a creep!" He told the reporters, but that didn't sound any better.

Freddie stepped in to intervene. "Darling, how would you like front row seats to our concert tomorrow night? I really like the slippers by the way. I have my own pair of ballet slippers just like yours."

"Your feet are bigger than mine." The girl stated.

"Yes they are." Freddie agreed, "So, are you willing to let us have a look at your toy for the concert tickets?"

"No!" The girl clung to Wisher even tighter, "He's mine."

Fueled by Roger's impatience, Brian felt the need to get the job done. Freddie and John's civil approaches just weren't working. There was no point in trying to reason with a small child. Speaking of which, Brian felt like a small child giving way to one of Roger's tantrums. Brian no longer cared if he was causing a scene or making a fool of himself. One way or another he was going to do what they came here to achieve: get Wisher back.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" He shouted. Making the girl cry, Brian snatched Wisher from her arms. He paused to give the photographers the middle finger before walking away.

Roger was stunned, but for once in his life, he wasn't angry. It was more of a feeling of disappointment that washed through him. He followed Brian back upstairs leaving the frontman and bassist to deal with the carnage Brian had left behind.

"Well, that's our Roger." Freddie laughed awkwardly. "Always misbehaving." John chimed in. He put some money in the vending machine. Buying the little girl a chocolate bar might make up for Brian's brash actions.

"Don't cry, my dear." Freddie told her, "Deaky is buying you that chocolate bar, and I will get you and your family the tickets along with backstage passes."

***

"Well done, Mr. Taylor." Wisher applauded as Brian carried him back upstairs.

Brian knew that it was only a matter of time until Roger's pent up rage boiled to the surface. Wisher's smugness was also not helping him control himself. "Shut up!" He shouted down at the wizard.

"I have a feeling the press will not take well to your little stunt, but thankfully it was in character, so not too many questions will be asked."

"I said shut up!" Brian repeated.

He was about to slap Wisher, but his own voice calling him from behind caught his attention. "Bri, what the hell?" It was Roger. "You made me look like a total maniac! Do you know the PR shit we're going to have to deal with now? What happened to not causing a scene?"

"I got Wisher back. Wasn't that the goal?"

"You made a little girl cry." Roger reminded him.

Brian just shrugged. "You've done your fair share of dumb stuff so don't lecture me."

"Stop acting like your actions don't matter because they do. They have consequences, and we're all going to have to pay the price because of your reckless decision."

"Oh there you go lecturing me again!" Brian dramatically proclaimed.

"This is going better than I expected." Wisher interrupted their fight. "You two are doing a great job."

"Oh fuck you, Wisher!" Brian shouted.

"It's Mr. Wizard to you, Mr. Taylor."

"You take him, Rog. I'm sick of this shit." Brian abruptly tossed Wisher like a football over to Roger who thankfully caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Where the hell are you going?" Roger cried as Brian stormed down the hall. "To take a bloody smoke break! Don't follow me."

"Apparently he has my nicotine addiction now." Roger sighed, knowing very well that Brian needed space. He'd calm down after a smoke. Seeing himself in this light made Roger realize how much his tantrums affected those around him. He had made conscious efforts over the years to not fly into a rage, but he really couldn't help it at times.

Freddie and John returned upstairs shortly after Brian left. Roger was still standing in the hall with Wisher unsure of what to do.

"No thanks to you and our crazy little drummer, I completely evaded the scandal." Freddie announced, "But we have to kill it at the concert tomorrow night. I might have offered the entire hotel tickets and backstage passes."

"Isn't it sold out?" Roger questioned, "Getting seats for that girl and her parents is one thing, but how are we going to pull off the entire hotel?"

"That's something for Miami to deal with." Freddie dismissed, "Anyway the press agreed that if they like the show, they won't run the story. In other words, no fuck ups, darling. I'm on vocal rest. You should go on vocal rest too if you want to sound good singing 39 for Anita. I really think the proposal will win over the hearts of the paparazzi and the family of the girl we traumatized."

"Freddie, if you're on vocal rest, then why are you talking?" John chuckled. This happened nearly every concert, but it was nevertheless still hilarious for the others to watch. Freddie would announce the day or night before that he was going on vocal rest and then proceed to continue yapping to his heart's content as if the words were meaningless.

"I'm talking to tell you that I'm on vocal rest and I—Fuck! I'm not talking. I'm on vocal rest. Now I need to go find Roger and call him out for being a bloody idiot and tell him to go on vocal rest as well. His screams need to be top notch tomorrow night."

"Rog needs to be alone right now. Give him time to cool down and have a smoke break. Trust me I know him well." Roger advised.

"I could use another smoke. There's not much else I can do with my mouth when I'm on vocal rest unless Jim is around." Freddie said, "I'll go try and talk some sense into Roger while we have a smoke."

"Someone really needs to explain to him what vocal rest actually means." Roger laughed as Freddie went to find who he didn't know was Brian.

"How are you holding up, Rog?" John asked, "This must not be easy for you and Brian."

"Bri's clearly losing it." He sighed, "And I'm stuck here with a whole bunch of useless knowledge about science and space and shit swirling around in my head. It's pretty fucked up."

"I think you two are doing well." Wisher said, "Keep it up!"

"Wisher, you are literally applauding Brian for making a little girl cry." Roger exclaimed.

"That girl was sadistic and had plans to face paint me with pink glitter, so if anything Mr. Taylor was my savior. And for the last time you shall refer to me as Mr. Wizard."

"Honestly I thought you would find Brian's antics funny." John said.

"I probably would have if I were still me, but I'm not." Roger groaned.

"Then the magic is working." Wisher proclaimed.

"Deaky, you deal with him." Roger said handing the wizard over to the bassist, "I'm with Brian on this. I'm done."

Meanwhile, Freddie found who he thought was Roger standing in the back of the hotel leaning against the dumpster as he smoked. "You're coughing quite a lot, dear." Freddie noted, "I hope you're not coming down with something."

"Fuck off, Fred. I'm really not in the mood." Brian said.

"I think you owe me a great deal, darling. I used my charm to cover for your shenanigans. Although I can't say I'm surprised it happened. You can't seem to survive a single tour without stirring up some kind of drama." Freddie rambled as he lit a cigarette, "I always thought I was prone to theatrics, but you are on a whole different level."

Brian cringed asking himself what went wrong. How could he lose control like that? He was usually so collected and calm at least externally. What inhibited him from maintaining his composure? "Was I really that bad?"

"No worse than usual."

"Christ!" He scoffed, "I'm really sorry, Freddie. I wish I could explain what came over me, but I can't, and I hate not having an explanation."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. We all have our faults." Freddie gave that statement consideration and corrected himself, "Except for Deaky of course. He's perfect."

"I used to think that Rog—I mean  _I_ was perfect." Brian admitted, "But I'm not."

"Don't tell Brian I'm telling you this, but he wants to be more like you believe it or not." Freddie said obliviously, "I don't think that's a bad thing. There's a lot you can learn from each other. It'd be nice if his calm and gentle nature rubbed off on you andyou could show him how to let loose and have a good time. Poor poodle is always trapped in his own mind, but you don't have those kinds of limitations, Roger. It's a give and take really. I think that's why you two are such good friends because you balance each other out quite nicely."

"Have you been talking to Wisher?" Brian asked managing to puff some smoke without coughing, "He said something similar to me."

"Great minds think alike." Freddie replied.

"I think I'm losing my bloody mind. It may already be far gone." Brian thought about what he had done and how he had treated Wisher as well as Roger. He needed to apologize for being so irresponsible and not taking his friends' feelings into consideration.

"I know what will cheer you up."Freddie said with a suggestive smile.

Back upstairs, Roger was getting his hair tended to by Jim. He hated this restless feeling that being Brian had invoked in him. So instead of pacing around his room in an insomniac haze, he decided to distract himself. The overbearing thoughts were easier to manage when he wasn't alone, and Jim was very easy to talk to. It was clear to see why Freddie spoke so highly of his husband.

"I wish Freddie had told me you were a hairdresser sooner. I would've used your services more often." Roger said as Jim massaged his scalp.

"Well your curls are every hairdresser's dream."

Roger had been referring to his own blonde locks when he said he was in need of Jim's services but he accepted the compliment on Brian's behalf.

"So Freddie tells me you're thinking about going back to school to get your PHD." Jim remarked.

When did Brian tell Freddie that? Roger only knew from a morbid conversation they had over a beer on what they would do if Freddie did have AIDS as they had suspected and Queen had to come to an end. Thanks to Wisher, that was no longer a concern and the band would continue well into the foreseeable future.

"When did he tell you that?" Roger asked carefully.

"A while ago, at least a few weeks ago I believe." Jim said.

Ah. So it had been when they feared the worst for Freddie. Roger didn't even want to think about that anymore now that Wisher had intervened. Even if he ended up stuck as Brian forever, Roger could never fully hate Wisher because he had saved Freddie's life.

"It was a backup plan." Roger said, "I was considering it if anything were to happen to the band."

"You could probably stay in the band and still get your PHD. Either way, I doubt Freddie Roger and John would ever let you leave. You four are like family.  When we started dating, Freddie made it clear from day 1 that if I didn't get along with you three, our relationship would be over. I'm glad he has you guys. You always watch out for each other."

"Well we are like a family." Roger agreed, "I think of you as my brother-in-law so that tells you how I see Freddie."

Jim lathered his hair in conditioner. "I'm glad to be a part of the Queen family. It took a while for you guys to let me in."

Roger laughed remembering how critical he had been of Jim in the beginning. Freddie had questionable taste in men, and Roger only wanted to protect him and prevent him from getting hurt again. "Yeah I did give you a hard time at first." He acknowledged, "Sorry 'bout that. You're great though and Freddie loves you."

"You were actually the mostgracious and if I can remember correctly you were the first to give me your blessing. Now, Roger, on the other hand, I swear I thought that lad was going to kill me in my sleep."

 _'Was I really that threatening?_ ' Roger asked himself. To be fair, Freddie started dating Jim fresh out of his bitter breakup with Paul. Roger was expecting another perfect storm. Instead he got a perfect garden. Jim helped Freddie pick up the broken pieces of his life so that he and the boys could kick some ass at Live Aid and continue to give legendary performances together.

"If I had known that you would use your one wish to save Freddie's life, I wouldn't have given you such a hard time. I speak for Roger as well." He told Jim.

"Wisher doesn't want us speaking about our wishes and I really don't want to go down that road of what could have happened...of what almost did happen." Jim choked.

"But it didn't happen all thanks to you." Roger assured him. Then he couldn't help but add, "For the record, it still stands that if you break Freddie's heart I will break every bone in your body."

"Now you're sounding like Roger." Jim remarked, "But you know I would never hurt Freddie not after we almost lost him to that disgusting disease."

Wisher would not be pleased with Roger's violent slip up. Roger thought of something Brian would say in this situation. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

"Well your hair is all done!" Jim announced, "Why don't you go check it out in the mirror?"

Seeing Brian in the mirror was still unnerving. Roger hoped Jim didn't equate his wince with his hairdressing skills because he really had done a great job. The curls were intact and thicker than ever, but the frizz was gone and the split ends were trimmed. "You're a bloody miracle worker!"

"I'm glad you like it." Jim replied humbly.

"I love it!" Roger proclaimed.

"Well now you're all ready for your date!"

"My what?" He cried.

"Didn't you say something about having a lunch date with your girlfriend ?" Jim recalled.

"Fuck!" Roger exclaimed, "You're right. I did promise Anita I'd take her out to lunch."

Roger had his fair share of awkward dates, but he feared this one would be in a league of its own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we will see what Freddie has in store for Brian, and Roger will go on his lunch date. Stay tuned!


	10. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian discovers Freddie and Roger’s secret site seeing tradition.

  
"I can't believe we're doing this." Brian said as he adjusted his wig.

"You look fantastic as usual, darling." Freddie assured him. "No need to worry. We do this all the time and no one has recognized us yet."

Freddie was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a fake beard that matched his dark mustache while Brian was dressed as Rogerina. Apparently Roger and Freddie had a ritual of sneaking out during tours to site see disguising themselves as a married couple vacationing on their honeymoon. Their incognito egos managed to evade the watchful eyes of fans and the press alike each and every time. Before Freddie grew the mustache they would interchange their roles as the bride and groom, but now Freddie had to always be the groom because he refused to shave his iconic facial hair. It was amazing that they had been pulling this stunt for years now without Brian or Deaky ever finding out. Well now Brian knew but Freddie was unaware of that.

"I make a pretty convincing girl don't I?" Brian murmured as he stared back at Roger's reflection.

"You're prettier than most girls I know." Freddie complimented as he finished helping Brian with the mascara. "Don't tell Mary. She'll kill me for saying that."

"They say I can't keep a secret." Brian said referring to himself as Roger, "But you're pretty bad yourself, Mercury."

"When it comes to secrets sometimes you just have to say fuck it and let someone know especially if that someone is close to you. It's eats you up inside otherwise. Of course, I know I can trust you since you're so bad at keeping secrets. Honesty has always been your best quality, darling."

"Would you be mad if I was keeping a secret from you?" Brian asked.

"You want to spill what you wished for, don't you?" Freddie caught on, "My God, Roger! You have to be the world's worst secret keeper. That was Wisher's one rule and you're going to break it."

Brian relaxed knowing that Freddie wouldn't be upset for this if it did ever come out. "Good. So you'd understand." 

"I'm willing to bet that you'll spill to me by tomorrow night regardless of Wisher. How much do you want to wager?"

"I can't, Fred. We all know what Jim did for you and what Wisher is capable of. If I fuck this up by telling you then Roger and I will—Fuck! Look, I can't tell you. It'll be really bad for us if I do. I'm sorry."

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Freddie blurted.

"Y-yeah. I do that from time to time to sound cool." Brian attempted to cover up his mistake. "Don't you?"

"Freddie Mercury doesn't just sound cool. He is epitome of cool." Freddie laughed, "Yes, I do like that. I can see the appeal."

"Ready to go?" Brian paused as he reached for the doorknob. "By the way where are we going?"

"It's Florida, darling. I say we go to the beach. We can take a cab there. Let's play that little game of ours where you sing one of our songs and I pretend not to know the artist and then we'll see if the cab driver is a fan of ours and can figure it out."

"I purposefully always sing it a pitch higher so the cab driver doesn't catch on don't I?" Brian was not sure how he knew this but somehow it was common knowledge. 'God, I can remember playing Roger's stupid game with Freddie, but I can't recall the order of the planets in relation to the sun anymore.' No, he told himself. He wasn't going to worry himself with his waning knowledge of science. Roger would just want to go out and have a fun time messing around with Freddie. So that was exactly what Brian intended on doing. No cares. No worries. Why was this so difficult?

A man in the lobby whistled as Brian walked by, clearly mistaking him for a woman, but other than that their disguises allowed them to leave without drawing any attention to themselves. "It's like magic!" Freddie proclaimed as they ventured out onto the street to hail a cab. "No one has any idea who we are!"

"I can't believe I just got whistled at." Brian remarked, "What a pig!"

"Maybe getting catcalled like that will teach you a lesson to consider things from another's perspective." Freddie said glancing down the street. "Where the fuck is a taxi when you need one?"

"Believe me I'm well versed in that lesson."

"Ah! Taxi!" Freddie waved excitedly to get the driver's attention. When the car stopped, he opened the door to the backseat, letting Brian in first. Like in the plane, Brian became aware of how much more legroom Roger had when in the backseat of a car. That was one good thing about this crazy situation. Freddie slid in beside Brian and shut the door. He put his arm around Brian's shoulder, ignoring the other man's slight flinch. "Good afternoon." Freddie attempted to put on a strange accent that didn't resemble the dialect of any region in particular.

"Where to?" The cab driver asked.

"The boardwalk. I want to take my baby to the beach." The more Freddie spoke the more obvious it became that his accent was as fake as his beard.

"You sure you wanna go to the beach? A tropical storm is said to be coming this afternoon."

Brian looked out the window noting the bright sun and few clouds in the sky. It was a beautiful day, albeit a little too hot, but there was no sign of rain.

"We're sure." He said purposefully pitching his voice higher. The falsetto still held Roger's rasp, but it was easier to achieve with the foreign vocal chords than his own. It wasn't even too much of a strain. Roger must have had lots of practice talking in his higher register while going on these outings with Freddie.

"Alright." The cab driver agreed.

Before either Freddie or Brian could say anything, the driver decided to initiate some dreaded small talk. "So, are you two in town for the concert?"

"Oh no. We're here on our honeymoon." Freddie said.

"Who's playing at the concert?" Brian played along.

"Queen."

"I think I've heard of them." Freddie remarked and Brian stifled a laugh. "What do they sing again?"

"Hungarian Rhapsody, right?" Brian pretended to be clueless.

"Hmm. How does that one go?" Freddie drawled.

Brian went into a shrilly rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody purposefully botching the lyrics and humming over certain parts as if he didn't know the words. He stopped before the operatic section.

"Nope. I was wrong. Never heard that in my life." Freddie said.

The poor cab driver must have thought his two passengers were drunk with how hard they started laughing.

***

Roger was still grateful for Jim's assistance, but it turned out to be in vain. In order to get to have a peaceful lunch out without getting harassed by fans and the paparazzi, Roger had to cover his hair with a hoodie. To be on the safe side, he also grabbed his pair of sunglasses only to discover that they completely distorted his vision. "Right. They're prescription and I have perfect vision now." Roger reminded himself. Now where did Brian keep his sunglasses? Unable to find them, Roger ended up stealing Freddie's spare pair of aviators.

Anita was already waiting for him downstairs in the lobby. As the less famous half of the duo, she could get away with simply wearing a large hat to go unrecognized. She of course was not fooled by Roger's hoodie and glasses. "There you are! I was beginning to think you were going to stand me up."

"No. I would never do that to you." He assured her, "I was just dealing with all this Wisher drama."

"You and Roger have been acting really strange ever since the wizard arrived. Is there anything I can help you with? Maybe I can talk to Wisher and convince him to undo a wish you two might regret." Anita was onto their situation, but if Roger said anything he could jeopardize himself and Brian. It was best to just keep up the facade and wait for these seven miserable days to finally be over.

"Don't worry about it." He dismissed, "Let's just enjoy our date. Do you know where you wanna go for lunch?"

"Well, I was talking to the people at the front desk and they suggested this karaoke bar that also serves lunch and dinner. It's not too far from here."

"Do you think we can take a cab there without being recognized?" Roger wondered.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Anita said. She took his hand and they walked outside together. Roger couldn't help but feel reminded of the "take your hand" line from 39. 'It's like I wrote it for her without even knowing it.' He thought before remembering that it was Brian who had written 39. Roger just happened to share some of his memories, but that didn't make him Brian. No matter what Wisher was trying to do he was still Roger. Or at least he would still be Roger until the magic eventually overrode his willpower to stay the same person.

With dark thoughts of losing himself swirling through Roger's head, the cab ride was thankfully quick and quiet. The driver didn't recognize them. Instead of engaging in small talk, he put on the radio and they listened to Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles. A Madonna song came on next, but they didn't have to listen to it because they had arrived at their destination.

"Huh." Anita mused as she stepped out of the car, "Those storm clouds came out of nowhere. It was beautiful when we left."

"Well it could be absorption of heat from the..." Roger could barely comprehend the words he was saying, but they sounded accurate. Since when was Brian a meteorologist? Did the field coincide with astrophysics? Anita just laughed.

"I'm boring you again, aren't I?"

"No, love, it's not that at all. It's just that...well you're going to think this is ridiculous. But I had this theory that somehow Wisher made you and Roger switch bodies."

"T-that is ridiculous." Roger forced a laugh.

"I know! You definitely proved me wrong. There's no way Roger would know all that. You're definitely my boyfriend and not an imposter. Now let's go inside before it rains on us."

Meanwhile, Brian and Freddie were still in the taxi heading to the beach. A loud clap of thunder made them reconsider their plans. "Thunderbolts and lightning very very frightening." The driver recited eyeing Freddie through the rearview mirror. "Does that ring any bells?"

"What do you know?" Freddie whispered excitedly to Brian, "He's a fan! This ought to be fun."

"I'm sorry." The driver proclaimed, "I just can't believe you've never heard Bohemian Rhapsody before. You even kind of look like Freddie Mercury."

"Who?" Freddie played dumb.

"If you shaved the beard you'd be identical. I'm surprised no one's ever told you that before."

Freddie shook his head. "So tell me more about this...Freddie Jupiter." His fake accent was completely dropped at this point.

"What the hell are you doing?" Brian whispered, "He's gonna catch on."

"Didn't you see him perform at Live Aid? He's a really talented guy despite being gay." The driver said casually, "Shame really. If he weren't so flamboyant I'd consider going to the concert tomorrow, but I wouldn't want to spend money to support a fa--"

"--STOP THE BLOODY CAR!" Brian shouted.

"Oh my God! You gave me a sheer heart attack, lady!" The driver shouted once they were pulled over. "I seriously thought someone was going to hit us. What's the matter? Are you going into labor or something?"

"We've changed our mind." Freddie said, his voice cold as ice, "You're right it's going to rain. We don't want to go to the beach. Just let us out here."

Before anyone could make a move, Brian showed himself out of the car, slamming the door in a fury. Freddie was left inside feeling hurt and angry. No matter how successful Queen got, he would still have to deal with these types of close minded people. What made this man worse than the others was that he had the audacity to imply that he was a fan.

"Alright." The driver said, "You owe me--"

Freddie just threw the cash at him. "Take the fucking money. I never want to see your face again!"

"What? Was it something I said?"

"You know very well what you did, darling." Freddie said nothing more to the man and left the cab trying to contain his anger. His stone cold  expression changed into a playful smirk when he noticed Brian trying to poke a hole in the tire using his stiletto. "That's not very ladylike, darling."

"This lady sticks up for her friends against bigots."

"I wouldn't be able to do half of what I do if I didn't have such supportive friends. Thanks, Roggie." Freddie said sincerely.

"I'm here for you, Fred, and Brian and Deaky are as well." Brian stressed his own name because he felt justified in defending Freddie even if it was inspired by Roger's brash rage.

As the taxi drove away, Brian gave the driver a big middle finger. Freddie picked up a rock and threw it as far as he could aiming with enough precision to crack the back window. By the time the driver began to back up, Freddie and Brian were long gone. They disappeared into the first bar they saw, which happened to be the same karaoke bar Roger and Anita were at.

The pair were seated at a table in the back looking over the menus. "I'm probably going to order a salad." Roger decided. "I know." Anita remarked, "You always get a salad."

Oh yeah. Brian was a vegetarian and usually did have salads. For some reason Roger wasn't having his normal cravings for wings or ribs. He was in the mood for leafy greens. Brian's boring healthy habits were rubbing off on him. He wasn't even experiencing much nicotine withdrawal having not smoked in nearly two days.

"That man over there kind of looks like Freddie." Anita noted, "But the blonde he's with is definitely not Mary."

Roger squinted to get a better look. He may have perfect eye sight now but the aviators he was wearing made the already dark room nearly pitch black. "Fred's got a hot new girlfriend. Jim better watch out." He joked. Then he realized the familiarity of the woman Freddie was with. Holy shit! Roger was looking at himself in drag.

"Oh my God!" Anita reached the same conclusion, "That's Roger!"

Poor Brian! Freddie must have really done a good job in order to convince him to go on one of their adventures. Much to Roger's surprise, it looked like the two were having a good time. They were laughing about something.

"Did you see the look on his face when you threw that rock? Oh man!"

"That bastard deserved it. I'm so glad we were incognito so he could show us his true colors. He probably would have been insincerely nice to us if he knew who we were."

"Fucking coward." Brian muttered. Then he looked up to see two very familiar faces watching him from the table in the back of the room. One face was so familiar that he was used to seeing it in a mirror every day, these last two days being an exception.

"I guess our secret's out." Freddie sighed when he spotted Roger and Anita. "Let's go crash their date."

"What are you two doing here?" Roger asked as Brian and Freddie approached them.

Freddie put his arm around Brian. "We're here for the same reason you're here, lovies. We're on a date."

Freddie would tease Roger like this all the time whenever they went out on their little journeys, but Brian was clearly uncomfortable. Normally Roger would have flirted back, but Brian stayed stiff and quiet. Roger mouthed a quick sorry to Brian before Freddie hauled him away to a different table but not before stealing his aviators back from Roger.

"Those two are crazy," Anita remarked, "but I'm just glad to be a part of the Queen family with them. They've been very welcoming to me since we started dating."

"Of course." Roger said, remembering his conversation with Jim earlier. "We may be a bit strange, but we're one big happy family, and you're one of us now, Anita."

"Cheers to that." They were drinking ice tea instead of alcohol but they still toasted as if they were.

Roger was beginning to enjoy himself. Anita would crack corny jokes and encourage him to talk about space which he was somehow able to prattle on and on about despite having no clue where the information was coming from. However the highlight would be Anita's eyes lighting up with fascination and admiration.

Back at Freddie's table, Brian was watching the two make googly eyes at each other. Freddie seemed to notice as well. "Such cute little love birds they are."

Brian was happy that Roger was ensuring his relationship with Anita remained intact, but there was something deeply unsettling about the situation.

He turned his attention to the karaoke stage grateful for a distraction. A woman picked up the microphone. "Hello everyone. I'd like to make an announcement. As you may or may not know the band Queen is in town."

She was met with a cheer from the patrons including the three out of four Queen members secretly residing among them.

"We happen to host a small tradition here. Whenever there's a big concert at the stadium down the street, we conduct a singing competition with the artists' songs. Whoever wins gets a pair of tickets. So who here thinks they can sing like Freddie Mercury and wants to give it a shot?"

Freddie tipped his baseball cap slightly so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. "Should I give it a go, darling?" He whispered to Brian, "I could win us tickets to our own concert."

"Fred, that would be cheating."

"Since when do you care about breaking the rules? Besides, we could actually use those tickets. To make up for your stunt with Wisher and the little girl, I promised tickets to the press and hotel staff. Having a spare pair of tickets to the sold out show would make Miami's life a lot easier to ensure that my promise is kept."

Before Brian could protest, Freddie stood up and went to write down his name. However, he wrote Larry Lurex so no one would suspect who he really was. He considered going by Farrokh Bulsara, but there was a chance that fans knew his real name. Only super fans, on the other hand, like the author of this story and most likely the people reading this story would know who Larry Lurrex was.

"Is Freddie entering the contest?" Anita exclaimed.

"Isn't that cheating?" Roger wondered.

"Let him have his fun I suppose. We'll see how long it takes people to discover it's the real Freddie Mercury singing karaoke to his own song."

"So much for vocal rest." Roger muttered.

He glanced back at Brian disguised as Rogerina. He had to admit he looked hot as a girl, but it was so surreal to see his alter ego as more than just a reflection. Roger mostly dressed up with Freddie as a joke, but he would be lying if he didn't say part of him enjoyed it. Freddie also had a lot of fun with Rogerina as well. Of course it was just silly amusement that he and Freddie engaged in from time to time, but for Brian it may not be too fun. Hopefully he wasn't too uncomfortable. Roger would have to find a way to make it up to him.

Freddie made his way to the stage. He struggled with the microphone for a bit before he managed to snap it from the stand. "Hello all you beautiful people! My name is Larry Lurrex and—"

A heckling drunk man stood up. "Who do ya think you're fooling?" He slurred, "You're the real Freddie fucking Mercury in a shitty disguise."

No one seemed to take this man seriously as he was clearly very inebriated.

"Don't I wish, darling." Freddie winked. "My name is Larry Lurrex, not Freddie Mercury. And I'd like to dedicate this song to all the happy couples in the room, but one couple in particular. You know who you are. This is a taste of the surprise coming your way tomorrow night."

The music began to play. Even though it was a recording, Freddie still mimicked the piano chords with his fingers. He didn't bother looking at the lyrics as the words came directly from his heart, written for Mary. Instead Freddie looked out to his audience as he sang encouraging Roger and Anita to slow dance.

"Love of my life..." Roger sang along with Freddie looking directly down into Anita's eyes as they danced. He failed to see his best friend watching them with tears in his eyes. All he saw was Anita. He was falling in love.

The moment they kissed, Brian stormed out into the rain. He knew better than to be mad at Roger, but his heart was breaking. This wasn't supposed to happen. He should have been the one dancing and kissing Anita, not Roger. She was Brian's girlfriend, the love of his life. And tomorrow night he would be forced to watch silently from behind a drum set as Roger proposed.

Stomping his heel in a puddle to distort the foreign reflection, Brian let out a frustrated scream.

It was a miracle he made it back to the hotel without slipping. The heavy rain combined with his now shitty eye sight and cumbersome stilettos was a recipe for disaster. Avoiding the lobby, Brian snuck into the hotel through the back trudging through the pool area.

Obviously no one was swimming outside because of the inclement weather, but the indoor pool was also pretty quiet. The Deacons were the only ones using it. John and Veronica were splashing around with the kids and Wisher who was equipped with water wings.

"Uncle Roger's a girl like in the song." Robert giggled.

Deaky noticed Brian's distraught face and immediately got out of the water to comfort his friend. He carried Wisher out of the pool with him. Ronnie assured him she'd watch the kids.

"You look beautiful, Ms. Taylor." Wisher told Brian, "But you are clearly distraught."

"I have you to thank for that, you little son of a bitch!" Brian called the wizard out.

"I have so many questions, but I should start with what's wrong." John said referring to the drag.

"I-I think Roger is catching feelings for Anita and I don't know what to do." Brian confessed.

"Mr. May should be falling in love with Ms. Dobson. He's going to propose to her tomorrow after all." Wisher said, "I am not sure why you were so eager to wish away your love if you knew it would leave you so heart broken."

"Come on Wisher." Deaky said, "When Brian made his wish he didn't know he'd be losing Anita. Isn't there anything you can do? Maybe make an exception so she can know the truth and be with the real Brian."

"She is with the real Mr. May." Wisher said, "This is just one of the consequences of the wish. Perhaps you'll learn to be more grateful and cherish those loving relationships you do have before wishing them all away."

"If you didn't save Freddie I would say I hate you and I would murder you right now. You have no clue how much I want you dead, but I need you alive to change us back and I love Freddie too much to do you any harm." Brian shouted.

Wisher smiled. "Congratulations, Roger. By restraining yourself because of your loyalty to Freddie you have proven yourself to be pure of heart. You are now my friend and you may call me Wisher."

"My name is Brian, not Roger, and we're not friends. You fucked up my life!"

"We most certainly are friends." Wisher argued, "Although I do feel closer to Deaky. He taught me how to swim and supplied me with a pair of water wings. That is the sign of a true friendship."

"You live in a fucking wishing well. How do you not know how to swim?"

"I asked him the same thing." Deaky chuckled.

Before Wisher could explain, Freddie burst into the room followed by Roger and Anita. The three of them were all soaked from traveling in the rain. Anita shivered and clung to Roger for warmth. Roger pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Brian wanted to throw up into the pool.

"Roger, darling, we were so worried! Why would you run off in the storm like that?" Freddie cried.

"I'm on vocal rest. I'm not talking to anyone anymore." Brian announced before going to his room to sulk alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh the angst! As usual comments and kudos mean a lot. Thanks for reading!


	11. Under Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian pulls himself together for soundcheck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 2000 hits! Heads up this chapter is super angsty. I love hearing all of your comments and appreciate the love. Let me know what you think!

Day 3. Brian locked himself in his room refusing to come out. It was a very immature and Roger like thing to do, so nobody batted an eye. Well, the real Roger knew something was seriously wrong with his best friend, but he didn't know what he could do to fix it. The only answer was to get their bodies back, but Wisher wasn't budging. 

John, Roger and Wisher were downstairs in the lobby waiting for Freddie and Brian to come down so they could head to the stadium for soundcheck. Freddie arrived before Brian sporting his iconic bright yellow jacket and blue jeans. He spun around dramatically like a fashion model and struck some poses. "Don't I look so good in yellow, darlings?"

"I'm just surprised that for once in your life you're not late." John remarked.

"I'm fashionably late for many things, my dear, but my own concert is not one of them. Wisher, darling, have you ever been to a rock concert before?"

"It has been a couple hundred years or so." Wisher scratched his tall ears in consideration. "I believe the last concert I attended was that of my dear friend Ludwig. May he rest in peace."

"Ludwig?" Freddie asked his eyes widening.

"You may be more familiar with him as Mr. Beethoven."

"Um, excuse me for just a moment, lovies." Freddie said and bolted back upstairs with no other explanation.

Roger only shrugged, more concerned about Brian's odd behavior at the moment than Freddie's. Deaky offered Wisher a slice of cheese of on toast.

Back upstairs, Freddie sprinted to his and Jim's room, temporarily forgetting the key in his pocket and knocking frantically. Jim opened the door. "Freddie? I thought you were going to soundcheck. Is everything alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-I don't think I can do this, Jim." Freddie sighed. Jim knew his husband needed a hug so he offered him his consoling arms. "Do what, dear? Talk to me." 

"The concert. I need at least another fifty years worth of piano practice before I can be up to Wisher's standards, and I need to impress him. I need to be absolutely perfect and even that won't be enough."

"What are you talking about?" Jim combatted, "You're Freddie fucking Mercury. You're already absolutely perfect and you manage to stun the stadium no matter what you do and you'll always have my love." 

"Wisher knew Beethoven,  _the_ Beethoven. They were friends." Freddie explained, "That was the last live concert he attended so he's expecting something on a scale that grand. I can't compete with one of the most brilliant and renowned classical composers to ever live, and I was planning on proving to Wisher that saving my life was worthwhile through the performance tonight. That won't happen if he compares me to the likes of fucking Beethoven."

Jim shook his head. "Listen to me. It was  _my_ wish that saved your life, so I should be the one to decide whether it was worthwhile, and there's no question about it. You don't have to prove a thing. Not to me, not to Wisher, not to anyone. Do you understand? You deserve to live, Freddie. And I don't think it's possible to be unimpressed by a Queen concert even if you're an ancient magical wizard who knew Beethoven personally."

"You know I always perform better under pressure." Freddie said embracing his confidence once again. He'd be letting down too many people if he let Wisher's expectations stand in his way of having a good time and doing what he did best. Freddie believed he was put on this earth to entertain and he'd damn well use the extra years added to his life to please as many audiences as he could. The show must go on! 

He gave Jim a big sloppy kiss on the mouth to show his undying appreciation and love for the man who saved him and cherished him. "Thank you, darling. I needed that pep talk. You are really something special, Jim. I'm so glad I have you, my love."

"And I'm so glad I have you." Jim replied, "I'll see you up on stage tonight." 

"I won't let you down!" Freddie declared. 

"You could never let me down even if you tried." Jim laughed. 

Now with high spirits, Freddie returned downstairs only to find Brian (who he didn't know was secretly Roger) having a conversation with John. Wisher was being carried off by Veronica who would watch over him and the kids while Queen was at the soundcheck. 

"It's scary, Deaky." Roger lamented, "I used to be able to name every single car brand, now I can only name like four or five tops. I know all the constellations, but I don't know what good that can do me." 

"That's your biggest concern right now?" John cried, "You have to propose to Anita tonight. How are you gonna do it with Brian watching?" 

"I think Brian's mad at me. That's why he's been locked in his room since last night. He won't talk to anyone. It's such a Roger thing to do to throw a tantrum like that. The problem is I think he has a right to be mad at me. I'm falling for his girlfriend." Roger found himself confessing, "I keep telling myself that I'm only attracted to her because Brian is, but we shared a bed last night...and..."

"You didn't!" Deaky gasped knowing Roger's reputation with women. 

"No, no. We didn't do anything besides cuddle, but I...I told her I loved her and I think I might've meant it. I just feel so guilty though. She's not mine to love. I'm betraying my best friend." 

John was about to say something else, but he shut his mouth when Freddie arrived. The last thing he wanted was to give away Roger and Brian's secret to the frontman and force them to endure this torment permanently. 

"Is Roger down yet?" Freddie asked, "Where the bloody hell is that little bastard?" 

 _'Don't call me a little bastard.'_ Roger thought. "I'll go check on him." He said, "He's just having one of his normal fits."

"Tell him there's only room in this band for one hysterical queen." Freddie said. 

Roger went to what should have been his own room and knocked on the door. "Go away!" Brian's response was muffled but the pitch was clearly too high to be his own voice. 

"Roger, open up please." He glanced down the hall making sure he was own. "It's me, Brimi, just let me in, okay?" 

Brian opened the door, shuddering when he saw himself standing on the other end of the threshold. Roger forced himself inside and found the room was a mess with scattered empty liquor bottles and uneaten food. "Is that a hamburger?"

"I'm craving fucking meat because of you, Roger!" Brian shouted, "I ordered that disgusting thing from room service and was actually tempted by it. I'm still tempted by it. It looks and smells delicious." 

"Bri, I--"

"--No, don't say a word to me. Go on and make love with my girlfriend. I bet that's what you want to do! I'm sure you were at it all night with her." 

"I didn't. I was a gentleman. I would never do that to you, Brian. And I wouldn’t do it to Anita either. She deserves to know  _who_  she’s having sex with.” Roger assured him.

“But she’s going to be your fiancé tonight. After the show…you two are going to want to celebrate your engagement.” Brian choked on his own words.

“Fuck!” Roger cried. He hadn’t considered that, but it was true. There’d be an expectation. As if proposing wasn’t bad enough, he had to face the aftermath as well. “What am I going to do?”

“How the hell should I know? Let’s just order another fucking drink! Your alcohol tolerance is too bloody high to get me drunk enough to forget that I’m in the wrong body.”

Roger looked down at all the empty bottles and his own bloodshot eyes. Shit! Brian was drunk, and the concert was in a matter of hours. It was a good thing his liver could handle this kind of thing. “You need to pull yourself together. We have to go to sound check. Fred and Deaky are waiting for us downstairs.”

Then Brian did something that surprised them both, he slapped Roger. “What the fuck!” Roger cried, “Why would you do that?”

“I dunno. It felt good.”

Roger retaliated with a slap of his own and in a flash the two were brawling on the floor like angry school children on a playground. “You have no fucking right to tell me to pull myself together!” Brian shouted. “And you have no fucking right to slap me. That’s your own face you’re messing up!” Roger responded. They were still physically quarreling when Freddie walked into the room. The door had been left ajar.

“Brian, Roger! What the hell has gotten into you two?” Freddie cried. “Darlings, stop that shit this instant!”

They broke apart and looked up at him. “He started it!” They shouted in unison pointing at each other.

“I don’t care who started it. You can kill each other after the concert. I need my drummer and guitarist. Now stop behaving like spoiled little brats and get your asses downstairs. We’re going to be late for sound check. Brian, don’t forget to bring the ring.”

“I wouldn’t want to forget that.” Roger said through gritted teeth. 

***

It was only a sound check, but Brian was still concerned with how he’d be able to perform. There was one song in particular he was nervous about: the notorious I’m in Love with my Car _._  The drummer begged for it to be including in nearly every tour setlist and usually got his way. At this point the fans would be expecting it. When they were finishing up Killer Queen _,_  Brian knew it was time, and he didn’t want to mess it up. He was still somewhat drunk, but Roger’s muscle memory sure worked wonders. All he had to do was remember the words to the dumb song.

“I’m actually impressed.” Roger murmured to himself watching Brian perform as him.

“Of course you’re impressed, dear. Roger almost always pulls through for us.” Freddie said. “Especially on his songs and this one in particular.” He applauded Brian when he pulled off a tricky high note that even surprised Roger. "Wow! He's really bloody good." Roger gasped also clapping for Brian. 

“It’s hard to believe you two were wrestling on the floor earlier. You seemed to have resolved whatever was going on between you two.” Freddie said. 

“We temporarily forgot about for the sake of the show.” Roger said. “But believe me it’s far from over.”

“Does it have anything to do with Wisher? I made a bet with Roger the other night wagering that he’d spill whatever his wish was to me tonight by midnight. I have a feeling it might involve you, Brian.” Freddie remarked.

“Wisher made us swear to secrecy. We can’t tell you what we wished for, Freddie. Sorry.” Roger said as calmly as he could.

“Ah. So it  _was_  a joint wish as I thought. This just got much juicier.” Freddie rubbed his hands together. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

“You won’t.” Roger said firmly.

Brian wrapped up the song, and Freddie wandered to the center of the stage. Roger went to retrieve Brian’s acoustic guitar from the stand, but he found a harp lying next to it.

“Oh yes. I forgot to tell you the change of plans.” Freddie announced, “It turns out they did have the harp so you’ll be able to play it during Love of My Life.”

“I know how to play harp?” Roger glanced back at Brian who made a gesture for him to take the harp.

“I know it’s been a while since you’ve played it, but playing an instrument is just like riding a bicycle. You never forget it.” Freddie insisted.

“Muscle memory.” Roger assured himself.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask why didn’t you choose Love of My Life to serenade Anita? I mean You Take my Breath Away is fine and all, but we always get the audience to sing along to Love of My Life.” Freddie inquired.

“Love of My Life is a breakup song.” Brian blurted forgetting the question wasn’t meant for him even though he was the one who planned the proposal.  _‘It might as well be a breakup song.’_ He thought to himself dismally.

“Well I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Freddie said, “The plan we have now is very romantic and I’m sure it will all work out better than you can possibly imagine. Now let’s get on with this bloody soundcheck.” He addressed the empty stadium. “Now we’re going to slow it down a bit with a few acoustics. This song is called Love of My Life.”

Roger tried his best to work the harp, but unlike the guitar, he had no experience with the harp. He missed a few notes and fumbled a bit, but eventually he got the hang of it. It was shaky but he was able to do it.

“Don’t let those slip ups happen at the real show even though you’ll be nervous about the proposal.” Freddie warned, “We need to bring our A game. Wisher will be watching!”

“And the paparazzi and the the hotel staff and that little girl and her family.” Deaky added.

“We don’t need to be reminded, Deaks.” Roger said sharply.

“Now this is when you’ll be singing 39.” Freddie proclaimed, “The spotlight will be on you, darling, so I’ll be able to run off the stage and into the audience. When you sing ‘ _All your letters in the sand cannot heal me like your hand’_  I’ll pull Anita up on stage and you’ll get down on one knee. Roger, Deaky, you two can wait in the wings or stay on stage if you’d like, but the focus will be on Brian and Anita. So, Roger, this time you won’t be coming up to play with your tambourines. Just stay behind the drums and sing your harmonies. Got it?”

‘ _Stay in the background and watch with a broken heart.’_  Brian thought to himself. “Yeah. I can do that, Fred.”

“Excellent. Now let’s give it a dry run for these sound techies.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Queen concert and proposal next chapter! Stay tuned!


	12. For the Day I Take Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth comes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is coming to an end and I just want to say thank you so so much for all of your comments and kudos. You guys are the best!

The crowd never cheered louder, and Freddie was feeding off of their energy. He ran across the stage—dancing with Deaky, throwing water at the audience, getting in the faces of his bandmates and miming their instruments with his hands and mic stand, randomly dropping to the floor and doing pushups, and of course never missing a note in the process.

' _That's my man up there!'_ Jim thought proudly while cheering Freddie and the boys on. The audience was having the time of their lives enjoying the spectacle of four stellar musicians, completely unaware that two of them weren't even in the correct bodies and still performing with so much passion and talent.

"Okay, we're going to slow it down a bit and play a few acoustics. This is a very special song and I'd like to dedicate it to a very worthy special someone." Freddie didn't identify Jim directly, but he caught his eye from up on the stage and gave a slight nod. Jim had never felt more loved. "This is Love of My Life."

Meanwhile Roger was just trying his best not to mess up Brian's harp solo. Brian had killed I'm in Love With my Car, and Roger didn't want to make Brian look foolish up on stage after he put his heart and soul into his performance. Everything was going smoothly and as always, the audience sang along with Freddie.

"I still love you!" Freddie declared blowing a kiss to the crowd. It was always a poignant moment, and now thanks to Wisher, Freddie no longer felt like he was saying goodbye when he did it. It was a cry of gratitude and celebration rather than a lingering apology of his fate to come.

When the moment ended, both Roger and Brian knew what was about to happen next, and they were dreading it. "And now a very special performance from our guitarist." Freddie announced. He gave Roger a thumbs up. "All you, Bri."

Fuck! Roger panicked, not sure what to do. He wanted to run off the stage, but that would really make Brian look bad. Meanwhile the real Brian was behind the drums purposefully looking up at the lights to distract himself from the inevitable. Freddie had already ascended into the wings and was going into the audience. The spotlight was on Roger. The audience was growing impatient. "This is 39." He won them back over with that announcement. Roger just focused on the song, forcing himself to get through it.

Watching admirably from the audience, Anita gasped when Freddie suddenly appeared beside her. "Freddie, what on earth are you doing?" She cried, "Get back on stage!"

 _'...For the day I take your hand...'_ Freddie literally took her hand when Roger sang the words. "Trust me, darling." The frontman whispered, pulling her out of the audience and into the wings. 

"What is going on?" Anita hissed.

"You'll see." Freddie said excitedly waiting for the proper moment.

Brian looked over into the wings catching Anita's eye. She saw Roger, but knew there was something seriously wrong. He never ever looked so depressed, especially not in the middle of a show. His blue eyes were hollowed with sadness. He quickly looked away when he realized Anita was staring back.

 _'...All your letters in the sand cannot heal me like your hand.'_ Freddie pushed Anita out onto the stage taking a step back so she could share the spotlight with "Brian".

"Your hand in marriage." Roger said, getting down on one knee in front of Brian's girlfriend. "Anita Dobson, will you marry me?"

"Oh my God!" Anita squealed. "Of course I will!"

"SHE SAID YES!" Freddie hollered and the audience went crazy along with him. He ran to his piano and started to play You Take my Breath Away.

The song featured very little on drums so Brian was able to sneak off stage without anyone noticing. Freddie frowned when he realized that no one was singing the higher harmony, but like any professional, he continued. The audience was paying more attention to Anita and Roger slow dancing than the song itself.

"Deaky, cover for me!" Freddie hissed once he finished the song. He needed to find the lost drummer before the crowd realized he was missing. John took this as an opportunity for a guitar solo usually assigned to Brian. With Roger and Anita still on stage with him, he ended up just playing Here Comes the Bride on the bass.

Freddie found Brian bent over the sink in the mens' room, hurling and sobbing. "Fuck!" Freddie shouted, "I thought we already learned this lesson. We drink  _after_ the show. Now get it all out as quickly as possible and get your ass back on stage this instant! We just have the encore left. You can do it."

"F-Freddie!" Brian heaved. "I-I can't...do it."

"Bullshit! You were able to hold it together this entire time."

The crowd chanting for an encore was now loud enough that they could hear it from the mens' room. Freddie dragged Brian away from the sink and pulled him back into the wings. "Dry your tears, darling. You can't be crying when we're singing about being champions."

Roger and Deaky were waiting for them in the wings. Anita had returned to the audience now showing off her new ring to Veronica, Jim and the others.

"Thank God you're back in time!" John said, "I thought I was going to have to resort to telling bad knock knock jokes to keep them entertained."

He patted Brian on the back. "I know you're going through hell right now, but put on a brave face, okay, mate?"

"I'm so sorry." Roger whispered, his lips trembling as he spoke.

"She's happy." Brian sniffled. "That's all that matters."

"You three can deal with whatever drama you've left me out of on your own time!" Freddie scolded, "Now let's give these people an encore they'll never forget!"

Brian collected him composure as they ran back onto stage to perform We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. As promised, Freddie delivered like he never had before, singing at the top of his lungs with an intensity that couldn't be rivaled. He worked the crowd into a frenzy that was loud enough to be heard from the heavens. John was enjoying himself slightly less than normal because of the misery of his two best friends, but he still gave a top notch performance. Brian and Roger's performances were of noticeably lower quality, but Freddie's energy made up for it and everyone still remembered how perfect they were throughout the entire night up until this point.

After the show, Freddie Roger and Deaky all went to their dressing room to cool off and change but Brian disappeared again. Freddie was still in his king costume, but the other two began to change as if nothing had happened.

"Okay tell me what the fuck is going on with Roger and why wasn't I informed on the matter?" Freddie demanded, "I thought you were my friends."

"Freddie, we're more than just your friends, we're your brothers." Deaky said, "But it isn't our place to tell you."

"Yes, Deaky, you're off the hook." Freddie acknowledged, "But Brian, darling, I know you're involved directly in what's going on with Roger and it has to do with Wisher. So please tell me."

Roger didn't respond, lost in his own mind. He barely even acknowledged Freddie and Deaky as he got changed. "I know what I have to do." He muttered and walked out of the dressing room without giving them any clues on to what was going on.

"I am going to get to the bottom of this!" Freddie declared.

Roger found Anita standing on the now empty stage as the roadies finished up their cleaning. She was staring down at her ring with a smile on her face. This wasn't fair to her or to Brian. Roger knew the consequences of what he was about to do, but he had his mind made up even if this decision would mean he was stuck like this permanently. Even if it was Brian's feelings, Roger loved Anita too much to keep up this facade.

"Hello, my  _fiancé_." Anita giggled, "I still can't believe this! You really had me surprised."

"There's...something I have to tell you." Roger gulped.

"I know you were acting strange this whole time because you were planning on keeping this a secret and even Roger was in on it and that's why he was being weird as well. To think I was stupid enough to believe that you had wished to trade places."

"You were right." He blurted before he could stop himself.

"Right about what?" Anita asked leaning in for a kiss which Roger dodged. "I'm not Brian." He said, "You were right. Our wishes backfired and we ended up switching bodies."

"You're joking." She laughed, "Right Bri? You're trying to be funny, aren't you?"

"I wish I was." Roger said. "I'm sorry. I just thought you had the right the know who you said yes to."

"W-what? I don't...I don't understand." Anita stammered. She shook her head going through so many different emotions at once. "You can't be Roger. I mean...I would be able to tell, wouldn't I?...Oh God! Brian is going to kill me. I cheated on him with his best friend! Shit! I'm engaged to his best friend...You let me believe you were Brian! How could you? Why the hell would you propose to me?"

"I'm sorry." Roger said again. "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. We would've told you the truth sooner, but—"

"—Brian knows that we're cheating on him!" Anita cried, "Oh no! How could you, Roger? And how could Brian just stand by and let this happen?"

Wisher wobbled over to where they were standing, and Roger rolled his eyes. "We're having a private conversation, so fuck off!" he shouted.

"You  _are_  Roger." Anita accepted, rapidly breathing in and out.

"Please do not be mad at Brian and Roger for this, Ms. Dobson." Wisher said. "If the truth were to be revealed, then the magic would be permanent. They were only living out their new lives as each other."

"P-permanent?" Anita choked. "But that means that...by telling me now..."

Roger just gave her a sad knowing smile. "We weren't going to survive the seven days anyway. I just felt so horrible having to lie to you. It wasn't fair to you or to Brian."

"Congratulations, Brian!" Wisher applauded, "You have proven yourself of pure heart by considering Anita's feelings over your own and telling her the truth despite the consequences. You are my friend now and may call me Wisher."

"My name is Roger Meddows Taylor." Roger said calmly. "I might just call you Fisher instead of Wisher and see how you feel about it."

"Why would you ever put them through this?" Anita demanded. "I thought you were an angel sent here to save Freddie, but this changes everything!"

"They wished for it." Wisher replied.

She glanced back at Roger. "Is that true?"

"Well...sort of. We didn't exactly know what we were getting ourselves into though. I just didn't want to be the dumb blonde anymore and Brian wanted to be more spontaneous and fun. We really screwed up and now you're paying for it along with us. I'm sorry, Anita."

"You boys are such idiots. Roger, you're blonde but you're not dumb, and Brian can be very fun and even a little spontaneous at times. Now let's go find the real Brian and see if we can sort out this mess together. Wisher, you're coming with us." She ordered.

"There is nothing you can do, Ms. Dobson. Their paths are destined to—"

"—I'm not marrying Roger, so you need to shut up and start magicking!"

"Actually it's magic making because magic is a noun and you used it as a verb there." Roger corrected, but he caught himself when Anita gave him a funny look. "Our brains are kind of merged. It's how I was able to play guitar so well."

"You see, Ms. Dobson." Wisher insisted, "They are transitioning into their new lives so you should just accept the new Brian."

"I told you I'm not marrying Roger." Anita repeated. She picked Wisher up by his ears despite his protests. "C'mon. Let's go find my real boyfriend."

Meanwhile Brian was crouched in a secluded dark corner in the stage with his head in his hands soaking up his tears. He felt so bloody pathetic, but unable to do anything  about it. Freddie found his friend in the heartbreaking state and immediately went to console him.

"You need a hug, darling." Freddie said, putting his arms around Brian ignoring his squirms. "Please leave me alone, Fred." He wailed.

Freddie playfully removed the crown on his head and put it atop the messy blonde hair. "I'm sorry about giving you some tough love earlier. I just didn't want the concert to go awry. So now how can I make King Roggie feel better? Tell me what's wrong, dear. You need a shoulder to cry on."

"I can't tell you." Brian sobbed. "It'll fuck everything up even more."

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me. I refuse to put up with your moodiness for the rest of the tour. Look at you sulking here, brooding worse than Brian I tell you! You're supposed to be our bubbly little sunshine. Brimi relies on you to lift him out of those dark places. Deaky and I certainly can't help him with it. And now that you're acting just like him, both of you are going to be such downers. Nobody wants that. Although maybe the engagement will make Brian happier."

Brian couldn't take it any longer. He had to confide in Freddie even if it meant that this madness would never end. "We made wishes that didn't go as planned."

"Tell me about it. I wished for more fucking cats when there's so many horrible things going on in the world I could have fixed instead including putting an end to the AIDS epidemic that almost took my life. I'm sure whatever you wished for isn't that bad."

"It's pretty bad, Freddie, catastrophic even."

"Well now you're just exaggerating. Stop being such a drama queen, Roger. That's my job."

"I'm not Roger. I'm Brian." He admitted at last. "I wished to be more like him and Roger wished to be more like me, and then we woke up in each other's bodies."

"Are you serious?" Freddie cried.

"Dead serious."

"Well you two certainly had me fooled. I never knew you were so good at drums and how the hell did Roger pull off all your guitar solos?" Freddie gave it some thought. "Yes I suppose it makes sense. I don't know why Roger would agree to this favor though. I figured he'd wish for a car or something. So when does Wisher change you back?"

Brian was surprised by how calmly Freddie was reacting to the news that he was stuck in his best friend's body. "Wisher won't be changing us back." He sighed.

"Why not? You got your wish. Roger proposed for you so you didn't chicken out. Now you can get back to your own body and make sweet love to your fiancé." Freddie reasoned.

"T-this wasn't planned, Freddie. I didn't wantRoger to propose to Anita. She's the love of  _my_  life.I didn't want any of this. I just wanted to stop being so nerdy for once in my life. I asked to be like Roger and Wisher turned me into him. Now I've lost Anita to him, and this may just be permanent. I don't even know why I'm telling you. Wisher said if we confided in anyone we'd be stuck like this forever. I guess I'm just so hopeless that I don't care anymore."

Freddie hugged him even tighter. "Oh you poor darling. I had no idea. What a mess you've made for yourself. Maybe I can help you find a way out somehow."

"I don't know what to do." Brian sobbed.

When he saw Roger approaching with Anita, the sinking feeling in his stomach intensified. He feared he was going to have to vomit again. Then Anita called for him. She looked directly into his foreign blue eyes and said Brian's name.

"I told her." Roger said. "She knows who you are."

"And Brian told me." Freddie said. "I'm going to help you two fix this shit."

"Brian." Anita said again rushing over to him. "I'm here. It's me." He confirmed welcoming her into his arms suddenly feeling whole again.

"I see that it's you now." She said, "I-I can't explain it...but I see you in there. You're in there, Bri! It's you!"

As Anita giggled, there was a sudden blinding flash of white light. No one else reacted to it besides Brian and Roger. It was like they were the only ones who could see it as Freddie and Anita didn't even flinch. Then the drummer and guitarists collapsed onto the floor passing out at the exact same moment.

"Huh." Wisher mused. "Well this is interesting."

"What did you do to them?" Anita cried.

"It seems, Ms. Dobson, that you have triggered some sort of magic reaction. Love is a powerful thing you know. Even I cannot explain it."

"But they'll be okay, right?" Freddie asked.

Roger stirred first, slowly opening his eyes. He sat up and took a look around. Freddie and Anita were both looking at him with concern, but he only saw Brian lying on the ground, passed out. Roger put a hand to his head grasping for the curls, relieved to feel his short blonde tousles. He fell back onto the ground and screamed happily, his shrilly scream confirming exactly who he was.

Brian then woke up and examined his surroundings. The first thing he saw was Roger Taylor rolling around and squealing like a madman, but that could only mean one thing. Brian rose to his feet, comparing his height to Freddie's. Yes! He towered over the singer. Just to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he reached back and felt his long curls cascading down his neck. Brian wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry or join Roger on the floor in a screaming frenzy.

"Oh Brian!" Roger exclaimed jumping to his feet and racing to give his best friend a suffocating hug. "It's so good to see you again not in a mirror!"

"I never thought I'd be able to look at the real you again either." Brian said. "Thank God we're back to normal!"

He pulled away from Roger's embrace for a moment to glance down at Wisher. "What happened? How did we get back to normal?"

"Ms. Dobson interfered with the magic. I am terribly sorry that your wish was reversed early, but at least you learned a valuable life lesson."

"You know I think I did." Brian nodded. "It's important to admire my friends and loved ones but I also have to cherish my own attributes."

"You wanna know what I learned Wisher?" Roger asked excitedly jumping up and down like he couldn't wait to tell the wizard.

"I'd very much like to know." Wisher replied.

"I learned THIS!" His smile faded and he stuck up two middle fingers.

"Well at least one of you learned a valuable life lesson." Wisher sighed.

Even though he'd rather not admit it, Roger did learn a few things. First, no one was perfect not even Brian May. Second everyone has insecurities, and sometimes you just need to disregard them in order to be happy with who you are. Third, he loved himself and treasured his friends for loving him back.

"Anita, let's do this properly." Brian said taking his girlfriend's hand. He slid the ring off of her finger and got down on one knee. "Will you marry me? Me, Brian May, not Roger Taylor."

"A million times yes." Anita declared throwing her arms around him and reclaiming the ring.

Roger cheered and Freddie wiped tears from his eyes as they watched the happy couple kiss and laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Happy ending! There will be an epilogue and then this story will be finished. I hoped you enjoyed it.


	13. Epilogue (Happily Ever After)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie surprises everyone with a trip to Disney World!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is finally over and I'm so thankful for everyone who took time to read it and leave comments and kudos. You may not think it means a lot, but it really does. Thank you so so so much from the very bottom of my heart. This story now has more hits than Rebels of Rhye making it my most popular to date. Enjoy the epilogue!

Continuing their tour in Florida, Queen was going to hit Orlando next. What Freddie didn't tell his bandmates and family was that he planned on surprising them all with tickets to Disney World. Everyone was thrilled when he announced the news that morning, especially the Deacon children.

Robert bounced up and down on the bed in excitement as Deaky and Veronica prepared everything for their day at the Happiest Place on Earth. Wisher had resorted to hiding under the bed the moment Robert started jumping. Roger had completely disassociated with the wizard. Brian had mixed feelings about the creature that almost ruined his life, but Anita refused to let him stay in their room. Freddie and Jim wanted their privacy during certain nightly activities. That left Deaky in charge of Wisher, and Ronnie of course agreed the wizard was more than welcome to continue staying with them and the kids.

"Young man, this bed is made for sleeping not aerobics!" Wisher scolded.

"Oh Wisher let him have his fun. He's excited. We're going to Disney World." Deaky said.

"I wanna meet Mickey!" Robert shouted.

"I wanna meet Cinderella!"  Laura said.

"Yes we'll be able to meet everyone and go on all the rides." Deaky promised the enticed youngsters. "Do we have everything, Ronnie?" 

"Um, let's see...my camera, sunscreen, diapers, bottles, and a park map. Yup I think we're ready to go!"

"Robert, sweetheart, I think you're big enough to hold a backpack." John told his son. "When we buy you a souvenir, you'll put it in the backpack. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Robert took the backpack.

As Veronica put Laura and Michael into the stroller and Deaky did one final check to make sure they had everything, Robert picked up Wisher and put him in his backpack without anyone noticing. Because why shouldn't the wizard get to have a little fun at a theme park?

***

"Forget Garden Lodge. I am moving into this castle!" Freddie declared. "All of Delilah's kittens could have their own rooms, and we could adopt even more cats with room to spare!"

"You can't live here, Uncle Freddie. Cinderella lives here." Laura said.

"Oh. Yes. Well I suppose we could make her our maid. She's good at cooking and cleaning." Freddie remarked.

As they ventured through the halls of the castle, Robert noticed his backpack starting to rustle. He unzipped it just a tad. "Shh! Quiet Wisher!"

"And would you listen to that magnificent echo!" Freddie proclaimed. "AYYY-OOHH!" He earned a double echo from the high caste walls as well as all the guests and cast members mimicking him.

When they finally met Cinderella like Laura wanted, the actress was quite good at staying in character despite her famous visitors. She interacted with the kids first as to be expected, but then she addressed the adults, specifically the members of Queen. "Something tells me you are quite talented. The next time we have a royal ball, I'll be sure to invite you to perform."

"I hope you do, darling." Freddie said.

"You have a beautiful singing voice. I bet you're just like me and can make all the mice and birds come when you call for them." She teased. 

"Oh no." He laughed, "Only cats answer my call, and they tend to eat the mice."

Cinderella acknowledged Brian and Anita as they were wearing bride and groom themed Mickey ears. "Well it looks like someone found their Prince Charming. You'd better get home before midnight."

"Dreams do come true." Anita said looking up at Brian.

"And so do wishes unfortunately." He said. "But I couldn't wish for anything better than you."

"What a wonderful happily ever after you'll share." Cinderella said. "I hope you all have a magical day."

They spent the rest of the day having the time of their lives eating Mickey shaped treats, meeting all of the characters like Cinderella, and of course going on all the rides. Roger ended up throwing up after going on Space Mountain three times in a row and stuffing himself silly with popcorn and Mickey ice cream bars, but his smile still stayed on.

Only after a while Deaky realized that Robert wasn't having as magical a time as his siblings and uncles. He kept unzipping his backpack and frantically looking around.

"Robert, we're gonna go on the pirate ride now. You love pirates. Arrrgh! Aren't you excited?" John's son continue to turn his head in every direction and didn't seem to hear his words. Perhaps he was overstimulated. There were a lot of sights, sounds, and smells. It was easy to get overwhelmed.

"Honey what's the matter?" Veronica also took notice in Robert's strange behavior.

"I think I lost Wisher."

"What are you talking about? Wisher is back at the hotel." Deaky reminded him.

"No, Daddy. I snuck him here with me in my backpack. I thought he would have fun if he came." Robert said.

John frowned something he hated doing in Disney. It felt so unnatural. "Did you ask Wisher's permission to bring him here?"

Robert looked down at his shoes and shook his head. "That was a very naughty thing to do." Veronica said in a contrastingly kind voice because it was not in her nature to scold.

"Let's find Wisher and make sure he's okay and then you need to apologize." John said, "Do you understand that what you did was wrong?"

"I understand, Daddy. I'm sorry." Robert murmured.

"How are we going to find Wisher? He could be anywhere." Freddie cried.

"His little legs couldn't have taken him too far." Jim said.

"He can rot in the Haunted Mansion for all I care." Roger scoffed. "Let's not waste anymore of our time here worrying about that wanker. I say we go on the Pirates of the Caribbean and then watch the parade as planned."

"Roger, you know I don't feel fondly about him either," Brian said, "but he's our responsibility. We can't just pretend that he's not lost and likely in need of our help."

"Oh this is so like you, Bri, taking on responsibilities and claiming the moral high ground!" Roger cried. "Why can't we just enjoy our time in peace and not have to worry about...Shit! You can't help worrying about certain things like this, can you? It'll eat you up inside until it's resolved."

Brian nodded when faced with this truth, but for once in his life he wasn't sad about it. It was just one of the things that made him who he was, so he accepted it.

"Alright. Let's go find Wisher." Roger caved.

"We need to find Wisher quickly because we don't want him to use his magic on any innocent kids." Anita said with a bit of bitterness in her tone. 

While no one disliked the wizard more than Roger, Anita did come very close. The only thing that kept any of them from outright hating Wisher (because let's face it even Deaky would admit he was a little nuisance) was what he did for Freddie.

"I say we retrace our steps." Brian said. "Let's backtrack."

The group trailed back through the entire park, searching everywhere for Wisher. They even resorted to the Lost and Found, but had no luck there. It was like the wizard had completely vanished. Even though they stopped along the way for more delicious but not so nutritious snacks and met up with more characters like Goofy, the kids were starting to get fussy. The adults as well were growing aggravated. Freddie would never say an indecent thing about Wisher because he had saved his life, but he wasn't very pleased that the wizard's disappearance made them miss the parade. Jim assured Freddie that the fireworks in the night would make up for it. 

Laura pointed to the entrance of It's A Small World. "Can we go on that? Please please please!" Robert and Michael joined in with their begs. 

"My feet are killing me." Veronica said. "Maybe we should take a break from looking for Wisher? The ride will be a good rest for all of us."

"It looks like the line isn't too long." Brian observed. 

As usual he was right, and they only had to wait about five minutes before getting into the boat. The ride was bright and colorful and made the kids giggle, but after just a few minutes, the song started to ware on Roger's nerves. "God, this has to be the most annoying ride here!" He exclaimed. 

"I disagree, darling." Freddie said. "I think it's delightful." He then started to sing It's A Small World at the top of his lungs along with the dolls just to amuse himself and piss Roger off. 

"How long is this bloody ride anyway?" Roger groaned. 

"Cheer up, Rog. You're at the Happiest Place on Earth." Brian laughed. 

Freddie stopped singing and nudged Jim eagerly. "Darling, look! We're in Ireland now and there's even a leprechaun." His Irish husband only laughed as the boat sailed through that room and into the next.

"Isn't this fun, kids?" Deaky exclaimed. Robert, Laura and Michael all squealed in agreement while Roger tried his best to stay sane.

At long last they reached the final room, but the dolls in this room were singing the loudest as it was the grand finale. In the boat in front of them, some children were dropping coins into the water and making wishes.  Roger couldn't help but think of Wisher especially when he spotted a wishing well next to one of the singing dolls that didn't seem to belong. It couldn't be...

Roger jumped out of the boat to examine the wishing well up close.  _'Please remain seated my ass!'_ He thought. 

"Roger!" Brian hesitantly followed his friend as the boat sped forward. "Roger, what the hell are you doing? You're going to get  kicked out of the park!" 

"You also broke the rules, so you'll get kicked out along with me." Roger replied. Brian couldn't argue with that. He was also trespassing. 

"Look at this wishing well." Roger said, "Doesn't it look like Wisher's?"

"It does," Brian acknowledged, "but that doesn't give us the right to--"

Wisher suddenly poked his head up out of the wishing well, and it was indeed the real wizard and not a Disney animatronic. "Hello boys. As you can see I have found the perfect spot to construct my new wishing well. What do you think?" 

"I think you're going to need earplugs if you want to stay here any longer than five minutes." Roger said. 

"I rather like the song." Wisher said and began to sing along much to Roger's dismay. Brian grinned and joined in. Messing with Roger was just too much fun.  _"It's a small world after all..."_

"Enough! You're making my ears bleed!" Roger protested, "C'mon, Brian. Let's sneak onto another boat so we don't get caught." 

"I'm with you on that. We shouldn't be here." Brian agreed. 

"Wait!" Wisher called. "For helping me find my new forever home, I am giving you each an additional wish. Do not waste it."

"No way! I'm not going through this shit again." Roger said. 

Brian, on the other hand, gave it some thought. He recalled how angered he had been at the taxi driver's cruel remarks towards Freddie and how much the singer had to deal with because of his sexuality. It simply wasn't fair. This was a wish he wouldn't regret. Brian took a coin out of his pocket and tossed it into the well. "I wish to put an end to homophobia." 

"Now that is a well thought out wish. I am more than happy to grant it." Wisher said. 

"I don't see that backfiring." Roger applauded. "Good job, Brian." 

Brian's wish of course inspired Roger to think of something bigger than just himself for his wish. He recalled Freddie lamenting that he had wasted his wish on more cats instead of solving the many injustices in the world or finding a cure for AIDS. They came very close to losing Freddie to that horrible disease. Even though Roger hated Paul, he couldn't help but feel haunted by how gaunt he had become and those raspy painful coughs he kept having. No one should ever have to go through that kind of hell. "I wish for a cure for AIDS." Roger didn't even hesitate as he tossed a coin into the well. 

"Another selfless and brilliant wish that I would love to grant." Wisher said. "You two have really matured. Whether you like to admit it or not, your experience with me really helped you grow."

"Are you going to grant our wishes or not?" Roger demanded. 

"They're already granted." Wisher said with a smile. He sunk back into the wishing well as the next boat came around. 

Thankfully, the back row of the boat was empty, so Roger and Brian were able to jump on without anyone noticing. "I'm proud of you, Roggie." Brian said. "I wasn't expecting you to wish for something like that."

"Well I wasn't expecting for you to have a similar wish in mind. We really did something special today. I'm proud of us, Bri. Don't you dare tell Wisher this, but I'm grateful for him."

"I am too." Brian said. "In some strange messed up way, some good did come out of this whole ordeal after all." 

Meanwhile, the other members of Queen and their family were in the docking boat worrying about Brian and Roger. "Roger is a horrible influence on him." Anita said. 

"They're best friends, darling. What do you expect? When you said yes to Brian you also said yes to Roger because they are a big part of each other's lives." Freddie replied. 

"I see them a few boats back." Deaky relaxed when he spotted the drummer and guitarist. He waved to them and they waved back. 

"I guess I can't be too upset with them." Anita said. 

"We'll meet them by the exit." Freddie said. He stumbled as he stood up, and nearly fell into the water, but thankfully Jim caught him. Forgetting that he was in public for a moment Freddie wrapped his arms around his husband and gave him a big kiss. "Oh thank you, darling! You're always saving me, you know."

Jim pulled away always grateful for a kiss, but never in such a crowded area where they typically maintained a heterosexual guise. Disney was considered "family friendly", but because of Brian's wish, the couple weren't met with any nasty stares or called any slurs at all. People simply carried on as if nothing really mattered. Jim and Freddie were just like any normal couple and it was a breath of fresh air that made Freddie want to cry. Jim resisted the urge to jump for joy believing that the nonresponse they earned was some sort of fluke. Surely, some homophobe was bound to call them out eventually. 

Throughout the rest of the day, Jim was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. Nobody cared when Freddie held his hand on Thunder Mountain or when they kissed again beneath the sparkling night sky full of fireworks. It was the perfect ending to a magical day, and a new chapter of even better days to come. 

So of course they all lived happily ever after!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a little research. Disney hosts annual Gay Days and Gay Pride Parades in their parks, but the tradition did not begin until 1991 (the year of Freddie's death, but that's just a sad coincidence). Even to this day Disney's support of the LGBTQ community is protested among Christian and conservative groups and has even led to boycotts. So in 1986, Freddie and Jim would most likely face a lot of homophobia even in the Happiest Place on Earth. It's very sad to think about what they had through and how most LGBTQ people had to remain in the closet in the 70s and 80s. During Pride Month we should take for lack of a better word "pride" in how far the community has come in gaining equal rights and respect from the public even though there's still more progress that needs to be made. 
> 
> On a lighter note, I included Cinderella instead of Elsa as the favorite princess because it wouldn't have made sense to have her in 1986 as Frozen wasn't released until 2013. Hopefully you can just let it go...Sorry I'll show myself out. 
> 
> But before I go, I wanna do so some shameless promotion. I've mentioned Rebels of Rhye several times, but you should check that one out. It was my first Queen fanfiction and has an Orwellian theme similar to the musical We Will Rock You. I'm working on a sequel called Rockstars of Rhye but it's a bit of a hot mess right now, so I actually wouldn't recommend that as it's a work in progress. My other two projects are both Deacury/Maylor. The Incredible Shrinking Deaky is pretty self explanatory and it's super cute and super fluffy. Four Magical Misfits is a fantasy series in which each of the four boys is a magical creature in an AU. So if you're interested please check them out! If not that's fine too. No worries. Thanks again. I love you guys!
> 
>  
> 
> -Beth

**Author's Note:**

> So what do you think? It’s very different from Rebels of Rhye, but I like it! The next chapter is where the fun begins. Tee hee!


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